Keeping Up With The Johnsons
by QueenWillie
Summary: Nice house, White picket fence, Car, all your meals and clothes bought for you; sounds nice, right? WRONG! *Rating HAS Changed*
1. Chapter 1

Title: Keeping up with the Johnsons

Author: QueenWillie

Pairing: Daniel/Wilhelmina

Rating : R for language; poss NC17 later

Disclaimer: I. DO. NOT. OWN. THEM

Timeline: Takes place after, Blackout!.

Marc and Betty looked at each other across their desks and rolled their eyes as the raised voices reached their ears. Marc stood from the desk and closed the glass door of their office, leaned his back against it and sighed, tipping his head backwards.

'This is getting unbearable.'

Betty cupped her head in her hands, leaning her elbows on the table. 'I know, I mean, it's always been bad; but lately we can't seem to go a day without World War Three starting.'

He quirked an eyebrow at her; 'World War Three? You stay up all night coming up with that analogy?'

She tilted her head and narrowed her eyes at him. 'And you would have said?'

'Something wittier than that.' He walked to his desk and slumped down in the chair. 'What are we going to do? We can't keep working like this.'

Betty shrugged, 'We confront them, tell them their attitude is not conducive to a harmonious working environment.'

'Ok, and while Daniel is thanking you for your peppy little speech, I'll be picking my nads up off the sidewalk when Willie rips 'em off and tosses them from her window.' He said, sarcastically.

'That would be difficult, seen as you clearly don't have a pair.' She countered.

He gasped. 'Snap!'

A particularly loud, incoherent yell, made the glass walls of the office quake, the two Junior Editors looked towards the room they knew the tirade was coming from.

'Okay, you're right. Not today though, let's get the cover shoot out the way. If nothing changes by tomorrow, then we'll talk to them; agreed?

Betty nodded slowly. 'Agreed.' She looked toward the door again, 'I don't think one day's going to make a difference. It'll take divine intervention to force those two to get along.'

xXx

'For the thousandth time Wilhelmina: I AM COVERING THE SHOOT!'

'You can say it until that ugly purple vein on your neck explodes, it doesn't change the fact that this is MY CONCEPT!'

They were standing in her office, in their now familiar stance, at a face off. She stood in front of her desk, hands on hips, trying, and failing, to keep her cool. Daniel stood only a few feet from her, feet solid on the ground, arms folded in defiance. 'Your concept? YOURS!' He laughed. 'Willie I was the one who suggested we shoot downtown, I was the one who...'

'So you choose the location and suddenly it's your concept? I was the one who picked the models, chose the clothes, and what else?' She pretended to think, tapping her temple. 'Oh yes, THE WHOLE FUCKING IDEA!'

He swallowed, looking down, knowing he was losing; he refused to give in however. 'Look Wilhelmina, if you want to come to the shoot, then come to the shoot. I know it must be frustrating not to have any new ideas of your own, to feel all tapped out.' He smiled at her; 'If you want I'll even let you take the credit for this one.'

She took one step towards him. 'Tapped out? I've seen Mexican street vendors with more creative ability than you. I will be at that shoot. At MY shoot, and if you know what's good for you, you'll stay out of my God damn way!' She stormed out of her office.

A few seconds later she marched back in. 'Why the hell am I leaving? This is my office, GET OUT!' She pointed to the door.

He swivelled on his feet, keeping his arms folded and smirked, loving that he could get her so wound up. It was one of the few pleasures he had left in his life. He leaned into her as he walked past. 'Don't worry about it. Forgetfulness, it comes with age.'

She spun on her heel as he left, anger boiling through her. Her eyes darted around the office, through the glass. She couldn't see who she was looking for, no matter though, he would hear her. 'MARC!'

xXx

Later that afternoon, Wilhelmina was standing on the sidewalk in downtown New York. A vast area before her had been cordoned off for the shoot; the clothes and the models shone brightly against the grey background of the city. That had been precisely what she was thinking when she had came up with her "Diamond in the rough" concept. Just as she was instructing the models to change positions for the final fifty frames to be taken, a town car screeched up beside her. She rolled her eyes when the door flew open and an irate Daniel Meade stepped out.

'What the hell? Wilhelmina!' He slammed the door behind him.

She calmly turned to face him with her hands on her hips. 'Daniel, nice of you to join us.'

He stalked towards her. 'The shoot was supposed to take place at three o'clock!'

'Oh dear, we had to change it to one o'clock, didn't Marc tell you?' She asked, feigning innocence.

'I'm not going to let you walk all over me Wilhelmina; we are in this 50/50!' He grabbed a call sheet from a nearby intern and walked up to the photographer. 'Okay, where are we?' He tried to rein in his anger until after the shoot.

The photographer straightened up from his crouched position and looked towards the models. 'Okay girls and boys, that's a wrap.'

Daniel rolled his head back on his shoulder and took a deep breath; he threw the call sheet to the ground and marched towards a smiling Wilhelmina. 'This is below the belt Willie.' He growled.

She took a step into his personal space. 'I don't think so Daniel. When you learn to give credit where credit's due then maybe I'll consider keeping you in the loop. You stood there this morning and spouted all your moronic bull about me being tapped out...well, I have a proposition for you.'

He snorted and looked around, folding his arms. 'I'm listening.'

'We clearly can't work together.'

He clapped his hands together. 'You're resigning?' He joked.

'Will you let me speak!' She yelled at him; and took notice of the rest of the staff turning to face them, taking in the scene. She grabbed his bicep and pulled him with her as she walked out of earshot, down an alleyway at the side. She wrinkled her nose as the smell of rotting garbage invaded her nostrils.

'Okay, speak.' Daniel told her, looking somewhere over her head; not really wanting to pay her any attention.

'I'll do this entire issue.'

He heard something in his neck click as he swiftly lowered his gaze to hers. 'WHAT? No, I told you we're in this toge..'

'LET ME FINISH!' She closed her eyes and tried to stop herself from wringing his neck. 'I will do this one, and you get complete control of the next one, no input from me whatsoever.'

He uncrossed his arms. 'None?'

She shook her head, 'Not one word.'

'Then what?'

'We see whose issue sells the best, the one with the most numbers takes on final creative control of the magazine. We'll still share the title, but only one of us will have final say.'

He clenched his jaw, nodding slowly, letting the idea wash over him. He stuck out his hand. 'Deal.'

She smirked and shook it. 'You sure about this? Your first solo issue didn't exactly do great?' He asked, deliberately to annoy her.

'I learn from my mistakes Daniel, can you say the same?' She raised her eyebrow.

She launched into a scathing attack on his performance as an Editor and as a man. He wasn't listening to her though, the words coming out her mouth had became nothing but white noise to him as he looked further down the alley, squinting.

There was a young man, dressed all in black, pulling something out of a side door of one of the building backing onto the alley. He was looking around nervously, Daniel couldn't see what it was he was transporting, but it was big. He was vaguely aware of Wilhelmina's voice beginning to rise. Eyes still on the scene further down the alley, and without thinking, he clamped his hand over her mouth. 'Shut up.' He hissed.

Her eyes widened in anger at the audacity of his actions, she brought her hand up to his wrist and wrenched his palm from her mouth, she was about to rebuke him for daring to touch her when she saw his eyes were not on her, she turned her head to follow his gaze and took in the sight of the young man dragging his heavy cargo over to a dumpster. As the man tried to lift the black bag, it burst open and a human arm lolled out the opening. The arm moved sluggishly, the body inside was still alive.

Wilhelmina gasped and Daniel once again brought his hand to cover her mouth, this time she was in too much shock to protest. The man in black panicked when he saw his quarry was still alive, he reached inside his jacket and produced a small metal object. He aimed inside the bag on the ground and fired the gun.

'FUCK!' Daniel exclaimed.

The shooter heard his expletive and turned to the source of the noise, his beady eyes darting back and forth as he clocked the man and woman partially hidden at the opening to the alleyway. He swung his firearm in their direction and squeezed the trigger repeatedly.

Daniel, still holding Wilhelmina, turned his body and tucked her to him, shielding her. He pulled her closer to the wall so they were obscured by the railings of a fire escape. He kept them pressed to the wall as he heard the shots ring by them. He heard a clicking sound from the bottom of the narrow gully and surmised the man was still trying to fire at them with an empty barrel. Seizing the opportunity, he backed off from the wall and grabbed Willies wrist, pulling her out the alleyway back into the busy street.

The area that had been set aside for their cover shoot was now empty, the staff and models having being transported away. Daniel furtively looked up and down the street and heaved in relief when he saw the town car still parked at the kerb. Running to it, he opened the door and pushed Wilhelmina inside before jumping in next to her. As he swung the door closed he looked around in time to see the man who had fired at them, run out the alley in pursuit.

'DRIVE!' Daniel yelled at the driver, who instantly revved the engine to life and pulled away.

He was breathing heavily and he turned to Wilhelmina who was staring ahead in shock. 'Are you ok?' He asked her.

She nodded stoically; Daniel noted a smear of blood on her arm. 'Oh shit...shit, did he hit you?' He panicked and lifted her arm.

'What? No...no, I scraped it against the wall when you pushed me.' Her voice was monotonous and she still seemed to be staring into space.

He placed her arm back down on the leather surface of the seat. 'Sorry.'

She turned to look at him and opened her mouth to speak; to tell him he didn't have to be sorry, he protected her, he saved her life. Instead she snapped it shut again and returned her stare to the front.

'Back to the office sir?' The driver asked from the front.

Daniel stared out the window. 'No, take us to the nearest police station.'

He looked to Wilhelmina for a reaction; she remained staring ahead, resolute.

xXx

'The cars are back from the shoot. Alyssa said the two of them nearly came to blows again.' Amanda leaned over her desk, playing with Marc's tie.

He slumped his head forward, onto the surface. 'I knew Willie shouldn't have changed the schedule, but what could I do?'

'I don't think it matters sweetie, they would have blown up at each other anyway; it is the Slater/Meade way of doing things after all.'

He brought his arm up to lie across the desk and rested his head on it. 'I know, but Mandy, I really think it's just a matter of time before we have another murder scandal in this office; and to be honest I always thought it would be Willie who would whack Daniel but he's had this glint in his eye recently.'

Amanda folded her arms on the surface and leaned forward. 'Aw baby don't worry, you can't kill the undead.'

Marc attempted a smile, Betty chose this moment to join them at the desk, followed by Claire Meade. 'The cars are back?' Betty asked.

Marc nodded. 'Where are Daniel and Wilhelmina?' Claire interjected.

Marc straightened up; 'They're not in their offices?'

Claire shook her head, 'I have a meeting with them both and they're not answering their cells.'

Marc started to wheeze. 'Oh God, I knew it. They're in the morgue, they finally did it, they killed each other.'

Claire rolled her eyes. 'I see you've inherited your boss's sense of drama.' She drawled.

'And I see your son has inherited your murderous impulses.' He shot back.

Claire smirked. 'Oh calm down, they'll be fine. I spoke to one of the girls from the shoot. They had an argument and went away to talk it out. They probably just missed their town car. I'll call him again.' She reached for her phone.

Amanda stared forward, eyes suddenly glazed. 'Or...they got into this really big fight and got right in each other's face.' She started gesturing madly with her hands; 'And it got really loud and intense and suddenly BAM!' She made a pushing motion with her hands. 'Up against a wall, clothes ripping...' She pretended to rip at her own outfit. 'All the tension comes pouring out and they do the bad thing up against some dirty downtown wall.'

She smiled, eyes wide as she played out her daydream and then slowly came back to reality; smile fading as she saw the three incredulous looks directed at her. She sat back down and looked at her computed screen, clicking on the mouse and looking sheepish 'Or they missed their town car.'

Claire shook her head, bewildered and pressed redial on her phone. After two rings it picked up. 'Daniel, where the hell are you and Wilhelmina? I've been waiting fo...' Her voice trailed off as she listened to the other end of the call. After a minute or so she hung up, wordlessly.

'Well?' Betty asked.

'That...uh...that wasn't Daniel. It was Officer Harper from the 34th precinct. Daniel's being held for questioning.'

'What! What for?' Betty exploded.

'He couldn't tell me.'

'Oh God, I knew it, he's killed her!' Marc yelled, dramatically.

Claire shook her head. 'She's there too.'

Marc sagged in relief. 'What could have happened? Why would they both there?'

Amanda smiled and nodded exaggeratedly. 'Indecent exposure.'

xXx

'And then he turned to us and fired.'

The officer in front of Daniel made notes on the pad in front of him. 'And is this what you saw too, Miss?' He directed the question at Wilhelmina who nodded her head, slowly.

'For the purposes of the tape could you vocalize your answers please?'

She cleared her throat. 'Yes.'

Daniel looked at her, she had hardly said a word since they had arrived there, let Daniel answer all the questions, and he was confused by it. Yes, what they had just witnessed was shocking, but Wilhelmina was not one to retreat inside her shell. The officer looked at her also; 'Are you okay? Would you like some water?'

Wilhelmina didn't answer, Daniel turned to the officer. 'Could you give us a minute please?'

The officer nodded. 'Interview suspended at 3.42pm.' He leaned forward and stopped the tape, before exiting the room.

Daniel turned in his seat. 'Wilhelmina, what's wrong?'

She shook her head. 'Nothing.'

'You need to tell them what you saw.'

'I am.'

He shook his head, puzzled by her demeanour, this was not the Wilhelmina Slater he knew. He was about to press her further when the door reopened and the officer came back in the room, he placed a glass of water in front of Wilhelmina; she simply stared at it, watching the rivulets of condensation run down the outside of the glass.

'Are we good?' The officer asked. Daniel nodded and the officer pressed the recorder. 'Interview recommenced at 3.46pm'

'So Miss Slater, you corroborate Mr Meade's version of events?'

She nodded and then remembered about the tape. 'Yes.'

The officer looked to Daniel. 'A squad car has been sent to the scene but no body was recovered, there was a substantial amount of blood however. Your guy probably got spooked when he knew he had been seen and moved it somewhere else. You say you only saw the arm, but the person was definitely alive before the final shot?'

'Yes.' Daniel confirmed.

'And the victim African-American?'

'Yes.' He nodded.

'But you cannot ascertain whether it was male or female?'

Daniel shook his head. 'No.'

'It was female.' A small voice from beside him said. Daniel slowly faced her. Wilhelmina was, for the first time, looking up into the officers eyes.

'Could you repeat that?' He asked her.

'It was a woman.' She stated again.

'How do you know, we didn't see a face.' Daniel asked.

'I did.' Her voice sounded hollow. 'When he pulled out the gun...her uh, her hand reached up around the back and tried to pull at it...I saw her face.'

The officer looked at Daniel who flapped his mouth noiselessly. 'I...I was looking at the gun. I didn't know.'

'Miss Slater, is there anything else you can tell me? Can you give me an approximate age of the victim?'

Willie looked straight into his eyes and nodded. 'About nineteen, twenty years old I'd say...about the same as my daughter.' She finished on a whisper.

Daniel leaned back in his chair and exhaled, running a hand down his face. 'Shit.' He whispered, now he knew why she had been so strange since the incident.

'Is there anything else?' The police man asked.

'No.'

A knock at the door interrupted them and another officer came in with a binder, placing it on the desk.

'Okay, we're gonna leave you for a while, these are mug shots of all the men matching your description who have been in trouble in the area. Hopefully you'll see your guy. We'll also compile one of all the missing women in the area who match your description Miss Slater.' He nodded at them and left them alone in the room.

Daniel watched her as she pulled the binder close to her and opened it, she began scanning the pictures on each page. 'Willie?'

'I'm fine Daniel.'

He nodded to himself, knowing not to push her. He watched her methodically turn each page. 'Daniel?' She sat back in the chair, looking at the book, her finger pressed against a picture. Daniel leaned across and looked at it, then up at her.

'That's him.'

xXx

'You're kidding? No, no way, absolutely not gonna happen.'

Daniel was amazed at how quickly she had reverted to type, pacing the room. Fighting with the authorities.

'I'm afraid you don't have a choice.' The officer in front of her replied.

Daniel sighed. 'Willie, I know it sucks but...'

'Sucks! Sucks? No Daniel it doesn't suck, it's a nightmare, it's a complete joke; one that is not going to happen.'

'Ms Slater, if you and Mr Meade are both certain that this is the man you saw then it's for your own good.'

She threw her hands up in the air. 'How! How could he possibly even know who we are? We hardly run in the same circles.'

'You and Mr Meade are two of the most photographed people in the city. You're never out of the media. I'm guessing he already knows exactly who you are.'

'What if I refuse...to testify I mean?' She stopped pacing and stood with her arms folded.

'Willie!' Daniel exclaimed. 'You would let a murderer walk free?'

She huffed and rolled her eyes. 'No.' She conceded. 'Isn't there any other way?'

The officer nodded. 'Sure.' Wilhelmina brightened at the prospect. 'You and Mr Meade can go get measured for your body bags.'

She glared at him and Daniel swallowed a laugh. 'Look.' The officer continued. 'Your guy is small time, but he's a runner for a much bigger fish; one we're building a case against.'

'What kinda stuff we talking about here?' Daniel asked.

'Pretty much everything you can think of. Drugs, prostitution, money laundering, hired thugs...'

'Can we tell our families, colleagues? We run a business together.'

'We'll let them know the situation but I'm afraid no contact is allowed. I can have messages passed along before you leave.'

'And where exactly are we leaving for?'

The officer grinned as a man dressed in a brown suit entered. 'This is Detective West, he has all the details.'

The older man leaned in and shook hands with Daniel and Wilhelmina. 'We have to keep you in the tri-state area; we'll be moving you to a suburban area of Harford, Connecticut.'

'Connecticut?' Wilhelmina shouted.

'It's the area our researchers found your magazine had the lowest sales, you'll have less chance of being recognised out there.' The Detective reasoned.

'Wonderful, so not only am I being shipped to the sticks, but I'm going to an area where bad taste thrives.'

'It's the suburbs Willie, not the sticks.' Daniel tried to placate her.

'Potayto, potahto Daniel.' She fumed.

The Detective smiled at their back and forth. 'Well your dynamic should certainly help you keep in character.'

'Excuse me?' Willie asked, eyes narrowed.

Detective West opened the folder and read from it. 'As of now you are Bob and Leigh Johnson, married for eight years; no kids. Bob you work from home as an accountant and support your wife.'

Daniel shot forward in his chair. 'Back up, we're MARRIED?'

The detective grinned. 'It's a respectable neighbourhood, can't have you two living in sin now, can we?'

Daniel leaned back, sighing. 'Marvellous.'

The officers in the room and Detective West all snickered at his reaction. 'Look, hopefully it won't be for too long, once we track down our suspect and have him in custody, you're free to come back. It really is for your own safety. You have pretty much free reign in the town of Hartford. All we ask is that you check in with us nightly and a plain clothed officer will visit you weekly to keep you updated. Your only stipulations are that you do not reveal your identity to anyone, you do not contact friends or family and under no circumstances must you enter New York.'

The officer next to him interjected. 'You might want to keep the domestics to a minimum as well, don't draw any unnecessary attention to yourselves; as far as the rest of the community should be aware, you're a happily married couple.'

Daniel looked over to Wilhelmina, she was leaning against the wall, her arms folded and jaw clenched so tight he was sure he would hear her teeth crunch any minute. The detective followed his gaze and smirked at Willie's demeanour. 'Miss Slater, any thoughts?'

She tuned to glare into his eyes. 'Kill me.'

Daniel snorted. 'So when do we leave?'

'Pretty much now. We have houses set up in several neighbourhoods for this very reason. Everything is awaiting your arrival, you'll find all you need there; Clothes, furnishings and we'll have a community officer stock up the kitchen.'

'I'll need to write a letter to people at the magazine, outlining what needs done.' Wilhelmina snapped.

One of the officers stood up. 'Sure, come with me and I'll set you up with everything you need.'

Wilhelmina walked to the door with him, just as she was about to leave Daniel called after her. 'Hurry back, sweetheart.'

She stopped in her tracks and turned to glare at him. She narrowed her eyes and set her lips in a line before storming from the room.

Daniel turned to the detective and sighed dramatically; 'I think the honeymoon's over.'


	2. Chapter 2

Willie had been stationed in a small office opposite to the room she and Daniel had been interviewed in. The officer had left her alone while she went to gather the things she needed. The past few hours were whizzing through her mind. None of it seemed real, it seemed like the plot from one of those many, many cop shows that seemed to be on when she couldn't sleep at 3am.

Fighting with Daniel in the office seemed like a lifetime ago, not a matter of hours. In that short space of time she had witnessed a murder, he had saved her life and now they were being carted off to some secret safe house to play happy families to avoid ending up in the bottom of the Hudson River.

Lost in her thoughts, she jumped a little when the door reopened and the officer returned, throwing a pad and pen on the table. She eyed it curiously. "What is this, the dark ages? I need a laptop, so I can email them."

Officer Harper shook his head. "No, can't do, no electronic contact allowed."

"Oh for God's sake, you think some small time street punk is going to tap our email!" She exclaimed in disbelief, the whole scenario was becoming more and more absurd.

"Look lady, write on that and you can fax it through, it's that or nothing." He left the room without further comment.

Nostrils flaring, she snatched up the pen and began to write.

xXx

It had been two hours since Claire had spoken to the officer over the phone and no one had made any further contact. The four of them were still situated at the doughnut desk staring at their cell phones, willing them to ring. Amanda was still fielding the calls coming through to the office but was disconnecting them if they weren't from Daniel, Wilhelmina or the police, which Claire kept telling her not to do and just do her job but she chose to ignore her, wanting to feel included.

Marc suddenly bolted upright from his slumped position at his desk. "Has anyone checked their emails?"

Marc, Claire and Betty all looked at each other and then scurried away to their computers. Amanda called after them. "I'll just hold the fort then!"

She sat blowing air through her pursed lips, bored. This had been fun to begin with but her train of thought had long since wandered. She tilted her head to the side as an unfamiliar sound invaded her ears. Spinning around in the chair she tried to locate the source. It was coming from under her desk. Kneeling down she spied the fax machine and screwed up her face. No one uses faxes anymore, she ripped the paper out and scanned over it.

_For the attention of Claire Meade, Marc St James and I suppose Betty Suarez too. FOR THESE EYES ONLY! I will know if you read this Amanda!_

Just as her eyes began to read the document, ignoring the implicit instructions, she felt it being snatched from her hands. Pouting, she faced Marc who was reading the paper, pulling it away from Betty who was also trying to read. Marc's eyes seemed to be getting wider, the further down the paper he read. Every now and then saying "Oh my God" and then shushing Amanda, Claire and Betty when they asked "What?"

When he was finished he looked at them all open mouthed. "They're being sent into witness protection."

"Very funny Marc, are you done with the dramatics?" Claire drawled, folding her arms.

Marc shook his head, "I'm serious Claire. They're putting you in charge."

"Let me see that!" She snapped at him.

"Okay but it's in Willie's angry handwriting, you'll never be able to read it." He smirked.

Claire snatched it, her eyes travelled over it before she thrust it back towards Marc. "I can't read this!"

Marc smiled and read from the fax. "_The police insist it's for our own good and there is no other option. I can't tell you where or for how long but somehow either Daniel or myself will get word to you of anything pertinent. Until we return I suppose we must grudgingly hand the reigns to Claire. Now listen to me Claire, this is not an opening for you to turn Mode into 'Geriatric Fashions for You' _

_We have enough content lined up for at least two more issues. Marc knows exactly what's needed for the covers and I urge you to trust him with any creative decision which may arise. As for Betty, she is now in charge of finding our big names and interviewing them until we get back. Betty; I DO NOT want you using this as an excuse for you to interview your childhood heroes, or some awe inspiring woman with no arms or legs but still manages to dress her 7 illegitimate children. This is a fashion magazine! _

_Above all, UNDER NO CIRCUMSTANCES must anyone be made aware of our absence; as far as the staff are aware, Daniel and I are visiting Mode France, UK and Brazil. We can't risk our competitors knowing we are out of the game, albeit temporarily."_

Marc squinted at the words on the page. "In then it descends into unintelligible chicken scratches, I can just pick out the odd "Daniel" and "asshole" and something is "absolutely ludicrous" she must be really mad."

Betty snatched the paper from Marc and tried to decipher the words at the end, but to no avail. "We're in charge?" She squeaked.

Marc nodded at her. "This is huge Betty, if we do well think what this could mean for our careers when they get back."

"I think you'll find they put ME in charge." Claire said, amused.

"In name only." Marc scoffed. "This is my time to shine."

"Our time." Betty corrected him.

"Whatever." He shrugged.

"Guys, I don't think this is any reason to be celebrating." Amanda said, in an unusually sombre tone. They all moved to look at her, she was looking at them reproachfully. "I mean, if this is for real then they could have witnessed something really horrible. They don't put people in Witness Protection for seeing a fender bender. If they're going in the programme it means they saw something big, something bad and they could be in real danger."

Marc and Betty instantly sobered, feeling guilty for squabbling over who was in charge and rejoicing at the chance to show off their talents. Amanda laughed, a loud short burst.

"Gah! Who cares, we're in charge bitches!"

xXx

The ride to Connecticut had been fraught. Wilhelmina had refused to speak to anyone the entire way there; staring out the window, arms crossed, releasing the occasional tut or sigh. Daniel had tried to make conversation with the plain clothed officer driving them but after three failed attempts it became clear he didn't want to engage. Their phones had been taken from them before they left the station. It had taken thirty minutes and two officers to prise the Blackberry from Wilhelmina's vice-like grip, right now he wished he had fought to keep his phone too, at least so he could play games and stave off the boredom.

He had taken to counting how many of each colour car they passed, he lost count when they got to the freeway and instead played the licence plate game in his head. When they came off the freeway and back into quieter roads he stopped playing that and instead sneaked glances at Wilhelmina. To the casual observer, she was merely lost in thought, viewing the passing scenery. Daniel, who had come to know her better than most, knew different; he could tell by the slight shift in her facial muscles that she was slipping between annoyance at their current predicament and feeling morose when her mind travelled back to what they had witnessed in that alleyway, likening the girl inside to her own daughter.

"Stop looking at me Daniel." She spoke in a low voice, still staring out the window.

He didn't try to deny it as he would usually have done, instead he looked out his own window as they pulled into a typical suburban borough.

"We're here." The deep voice boomed from the front seat.

The car pulled up outside a small detached, two story house; white stone walls and ivy creeping up above the oak panelled door. A perfectly manicured lawn with the sprinklers already activated, perfectly symmetrical flowers planted around the border of the garden; a mailbox which was a miniature replica of the house. As they stepped out of the car they felt the gravel crunch beneath their feet.

Wilhelmina inhaled deeply, the unmistakable scent of fresh air and thriving wildlife never ceased to amaze her whenever she left New York City. "Dear God, could this be any more _Desperate Housewives?"_

Daniel ignored her and instead focussed on the red van they had parked behind. "What's with the moving van, I thought this place was furnished?" He addressed the burly man who had driven them.

"It is, we've had some of our guys ferrying empty boxes in and out for the past couple of hours, gotta keep up appearances, these suburban types are pretty nosey. It's a bonus that it's so late at night now, no one sticking their noses in until morning. Anyone asks you about the furniture, you tell 'em you had it shipped here in advance. Stick to the story you've been given, don't give them any reason to take notice of you but don't shy away completely; then they're gonna know you're hiding something." He held up a key ring with two sets of keys on it. "Enjoy your new home Mr and Mrs Johnson." He smirked and dropped the keys into Daniel's outstretched hand.

Daniel stared after the man as he got in the car and started the engine. "Wait! That's it?" He shouted futilely as the car reversed. He continued looking at it as it sped off in the distance, frozen to the spot, mouth wide. He shook himself from his trance when he felt the coolness of the metal leave his hands. Wilhelmina had snatched the keys and was marching to the front door of the house. Daniel looked to her and back to the spot in the horizon where he had last seen the car, then back again before hurrying to her side as she opened the door.

Swinging it open, they both stood on the threshold staring into the darkness of the house. Daniel nudged her back with his elbow, trying to push her inside. "You want me to carry you over the threshold darling?" He teased her, cruelly.

She retaliated by edging her body behind his and using one side of her body to shove him through the door. As he stumbled in; Wilhelmina ran her hand over the wall next to her and flicked the switch she found. Once there was sufficient light flooding the room, she stepped inside and closed the door. She wrinkled her nose as if she had stepped in something as she took in the room before her, completely non-descript. The decor and furnishings lifted straight out of Modern Homes; pine flooring, overstuffed sofa; and generic faux wooden furniture courtesy of Ikea.

Daniel picked up the remote and smiled when he saw the 50" flat screen in the corner. Willie rolled her eyes as he switched it on and started flicking through the sports channels. Typical boys and their toys, not concerned with what the rest of their supposed 'home' may hold, he was just happy he could get his beloved Knicks. As he flung the remote down and slumped down on the too plump cushions of the cream sofa, she snatched it back up and turned off the set.

Daniel slapped his hands down on his thighs and craned his head to look at her, annoyed. "Gee, it's like being married already."

"Don't you want to know what the rest of our lovely home looks like?" She said facetiously.

He stood up, exhaling loudly. "Fine." He gestured with his hand. "Lead the way _honey."_

She rounded on him, making him bump into her. "You REALLY need to stop that."

He rolled his eyes and looked skyward as she pushed open the swing door into the kitchen. Wilhelmina balked at the country living vibe she got from the room. Again the room seemed to have leapt from the pages of a catalogue, it was nothing like the kitchen she had at home. This was a room obviously designed with cooking in mind. Thick wooden counters nestled on top of white shaker units. A large island was situated in the middle of the room with a wrought iron rack above it from which various pots and pans hung, terracotta floors and matching wall tiles, to the side of the fitted kitchen sat a sturdy pine dining table with six chairs, each with green gingham coverings which offended Wilhelmina's very nature. The table sat in front of French doors leading outside, Daniel walked to the doors and peered outside. "Pretty impressive yard out there."

"Wonderful, it will be perfect for garden parties." She clapped her hands together and exclaimed with sarcasm.

Turning to her left she pulled on the door of the integrated fridge. Her eyes widened and she slammed it again and began opening various drawers and cupboards in the kitchen. "Are you kidding me!" She snapped.

Daniel walked to her side. "What?" He copied her movements and opened the fridge, his eyes also widening, for entirely different reasons. "Aw sweet; cheese in a can!" He took the canister out, shaking it before squeezing a line of the bright orange substance in his mouth.

Wilhelmina grimaced at him. "There is not one item in this kitchen that would ever cross my lips, what the hell am I expected to live on!"

He swallowed the mouthful of processed food. "Willie, this kitchen is packed!"

"With fat, carbs and heart attack in a can!" She looked around, hand on her hips and her eyes fell on an envelope propped next to the stove. Opening it she found it contained a hundred dollars. "What's this?"

"The police said they would leave us money for anything we might have to buy in between their visits, since we're not allowed access to our accounts." He shrugged.

Her eyes and mouth hung open, "This is for a week!"

He laughed at her disbelief. For once he was thankful for the times his father had cut him off in college and he'd had to live off buttons, otherwise he would have been as panicked as Wilhelmina.

"This won't even buy one half decent lunch, never mind supplement us for a week!"

He ignored her, already tired of her attitude and pulled out bread, pastrami, cheese and pickle. "Want one?" He asked as he started piling the filling onto the bread, finishing it off with a large squirt of mustard.

"Do you have any idea how many calories even one bite of that is?"

"Willie, we almost died today, it's time you stop worrying about getting fat." He bit into the sloppily made sandwich, mustard dripping down his chin.

"You're disgusting." She scolded him and pushed her way back through the swinging door. Daniel heard the sound of her heels climbing the stairs, to check out the rest of the house and he spat the mouthful of sandwich in the bin; it really was vile.

He walked out of the kitchen, his tongue working in between his teeth to remove the acrid taste in his mouth, and stared around the room. He briefly contemplated turning the Play-offs back on the television when he heard a scream from upstairs. Instantly on his guard he ran toward the stairs and bounded up them two at a time. "Willie!" He called for her as he burst into the room which had the door ajar.

She was standing in the middle of the room, staring aghast at the far side of the room. "What's wrong?"

She shook her head. "This isn't happening."

"What!" He demanded.

Silently, she lifted her hand and pointed towards the built in wardrobes lining the walls. Daniel tentatively stepped towards them and slowly slid the mirrored doors open. He half expected something to jump out at him or at the very least some kind of ferocious looking spider to be skulking in the depths of the closet; he stepped back staring quizzically at the stocked wardrobe and with the same puzzled expression looked back at Wilhelmina.

"What?" He shrugged.

She marched to his side and started rooting through the closet, pulling things out and flinging them over her shoulder. "What! Polyblends, man-made fibres, JEANS." She launched a pair at him. "Chequered shirts!" She waved one of the offending garments in his face.

He snatched it from her. "For God's sake, you know when you've spent the day getting shot at, it's kind of unnerving when someone lets out a blood-curding scream. I thought something happened!"

"Something did happen!" She yelled, "I stumbled into the graveyard of bad fashion!"

He started picking up the clothes she had strewn over the room in her rage. "Calm down, I'm sure the women's clothes will be more suitable."

"These ARE the women's clothes."

Daniel huffed out a laugh but quickly bit down on his lip when he saw the expression on her face. When he sobered and looked back up at her he frowned when he saw her smirking. "I'm glad you think it's funny. I'm sure you'll still be laughing it up when you're in your chino's and golf jumpers."

Her smirk widened when his expression fell. "You're joking right?"

"Am I a comedienne?"

Daniel ran his hands over his face. "Well there's nothing we can do. We just need to grit our teeth and get on with it. Besides, it's not like anyone we know is gonna see us."

She huffed and folded her arms. "Fine, but if you ever tell anyone you saw me in denim, you're gonna wish that little punk hadn't missed."

Daniel looked around him. "So what else is on this floor?"

"How the hell would I know? I came straight into the room that taste forgot. Go look, it's hardly a labyrinth." She started opening and closing more drawers.

"I guess you've claimed this room then?"

"With detective skills like that you should have stayed behind to help out the NYPD." She drawled.

Biting down a retort, because if he responded to her every little dig and sarcastic comment he would run out of comeback very quickly, he left what was now her room and went in search of his own.

Not much searching was required when there were only three more doors branching off of the landing. The first one he opened was nothing more than a linen closet, towels and sheets all neatly stacked inside.

Opening the middle one, he found the bathroom. Nothing special in there except he knew Wilhelmina would have a conniption when she saw the shade of the olive green bathroom suite. Stepping inside it he was suddenly very aware of how many times this house may have been used before him and wrinkled his nose. The tub was narrow and flush against the wall, the shower hanging above it.

Turning the taps halfway up the wall to activate it, he frowned when it didn't work. Stretching up he lifted the shower head from the bracket and peered at it. He began spluttering madly when the jet of water shot out of it and hit him in the face. Pointing it away from his dripping wet face, he glared at the door where Wilhelmina stood with an accomplished grin on her face. "You need to flip the switch dumbass."

He watched her open the door to the closet and lift out a clean towel and sheets and retreat back to her room. Grabbing a towel and dabbing at his face he left the bathroom. He brought the towel to his hair and began to dry it off as he pushed open the last door.

His hand stilled in his hair and he groaned in annoyance, low in his throat. Tilting his head right back he took heavy defeated steps back to the room Wilhelmina was in. "Willie, we have a problem." He called through the door.

She swung it open, glaring at him. "Other than being forced to co-habit in hell's back yard?"

"Just come see." He turned round and walked back down the hall. He heard Wilhelmina tut and reluctantly follow him. When he stopped just inside the room, he felt her peer over his shoulder and felt the puff of air against his skin when she laughed. "You do indeed have a problem."

"Me!"

"I've got my room." She shrugged. "You have this one, I think it's fitting for you actually."

Daniel pulled a face at her and turned back to stare inside the room. The home they were in had obviously previously been inhabited by a family, he stared at the white cot in the far corner, the mobile of farm animals dangling over it. A rocking chair in the corner was the only other piece of furniture.

"Well I'm beat." Wilhelmina said behind him, in the happiest tone he'd heard her use all day. "I'm going to bed. I suggest you go potty and crawl into your crib little guy."

He spun round. "This isn't funny."

"Au contraire. Night night, now don't you let the bed bugs bite, you want me to wind up your mobile? I know night time is scary, but there are no monsters in here."

"Except you of course." He quipped.

"Except me of course." She agreed, winking at him before she turned her back and walked away. He swore he heard a laugh before her door clicked shut.

Daniel remained standing in the child's room, staring at the cot as if he could will it into turning into a kingsize bed like he was accustomed to. After ascertaining that there was definitely not a bed of adult proportions he stalked from the room and made a show of loudly banging the closet door as he pulled out an assortment of sheets and a pillow.

He thumped downstairs making as much noise as he could and left the landing light blazing. Once he was downstairs he threw the sheets on the couch and slumped on top of them. He picked up the remote Wilhelmina had discarded earlier and flipped on the television. The game he had been hoping to watch had finished. Flipping through the channels he eventually settled on a re-run of a sitcom he had seen countless times. He needed mind-numbing entertainment right now, couldn't handle anything that would cause him to have to concentrate.

Even the monotony of the scene he had seen so many times he could recite, was not calming the thoughts racing through his mind. He stood up and walked to the window, leaning his arm against it and staring at the street outside. He saw cars parked perfectly in line, up and down the street; ready for their owners to jump in them in the morning and go about their day.

Pristine lawns adorned every front yard his eyes came upon, the subtle touches in each one making them different, as the home owners who tended to them tried to out-do their neighbours. On a few of the lawns he saw a evidence of a child living there; a discarded football, a pink bike left on its side, abandoned by the children who played with them as soon as a call rang out from one of their parents, bringing them inside for the evening.

In each of the little boxes made of brick and mortar, people slept soundly in the street; couples, lovers, families; each with their own stories, each living their own lives. Daniel thought of the security these strangers must have in their lives; the little girl wakened by a nightmare, only to find herself pulled into the comforting arms of her father who was always there to chase the bad dreams away.

The mother who was still up at this ungodly time, to make sure she had her children's outfits ready for the school day ahead.

The husband sneaking in after being late at the office and contentedly watching his wife sleep.

The old couple who did nothing but bicker and snipe all day after their 50 years of marriage, but still held each other as they slept, each knowing they were half of the same whole.

Where these people on the street? Who knows? Most likely. These were only the little snippets of life that played throughout Daniel's head as he watched the landscape of his temporary home.

Whoever else lived in this street, whoever lived in those houses, whatever their stories may be; he bet they weren't in hiding, tucked away by the police for their own safety when really they had just placed him in the most dangerous situation of all.

Shacked up with Wilhelmina Slater.


	3. Chapter 3

Daniel awoke the next morning to feel the sunlight warming his face and a shrill noise assaulting his ears. He vaguely registered a tapping noise in the distance, the shrill noise was becoming unbearable and he reached his hand out to silence the alarm on his bedside table. His hand met with thin air and the momentum caused him to roll on to the floor with a thud.

Sitting up abruptly, tangled in the sheets, he jerked his head from side to side, squinting in the bright light, gathering his surroundings. The previous day came back to him in a flash and he realised the shrill sound was not that of his alarm clock but of birds singing in the morning light.

Groaning, he started to pull himself back up onto the couch to bury his head under the pillow when the tapping sound returned. Lifting his head, he saw the outline of two people in the frosted glass set in the oak panelled door. He heaved himself up and padded to the door.

He opened it, yawning, running a hand over his sleep mussed hair and was greeted by a basket being shoved towards his chest.

"Well good morning neighbour!" Daniel stared at the proffered basket and then up into the face of the person holding it. He found himself looking into the eyes of a woman in her mid-fifties, smiling way too brightly, wearing far too much make-up and wearing so many clashing floral patterns he could be convinced the woman was a Suarez.

The woman's smile faltered slightly as she took in Daniel's attire. He was still wearing his shirt from yesterday, unbuttoned and paired with his boxers and grey wool socks. The fresh morning stubble on his face and hair pointing in every direction only added to his crazed look.

Righting herself, the woman smiled stronger and thrust the basket towards him once more. This time he took it from her and held it at his side. "Uh...thank you." He said raspy.

The woman flapped a hand at him. "Nonsense, just a token from your little welcome wagon, you can expect more of them to come throughout the next couple of days. We're all about community aren't we Howard?" She spoke to the man shadowing her.

"Yes dear."

"So is it just your good self who's moved in? A bachelor pad is it? Are we going to have to keep an eye on you? Boozy parties and your rock and roll?" The woman laughed, although Daniel didn't know why.

Saving him from answering the overly cheery woman's question, he heard a creak behind him and turned in time to see Wilhelmina coming down the stairs. The benefits of having a bed to sleep in seemed not to show on her as she looked her usual charming self, ready to kill the first thing in her path. Daniel recognised that look though; it was the look of a New-Yorker who hadn't yet had their coffee. No caffeine = No functioning.

Wilhelmina had donned a white robe she had obviously found in the closet and deigned good enough to be put near her skin; although he could see she had clearly fixed her hair and applied fresh make-up before making an appearance.

As she came to the bottom of the stairs, Wilhelmina didn't even look in the direction of the visitors, instead pushed at the door to the kitchen. "Hello there!" Their new neighbour sang at her.

She turned slowly, hand still pushing at the door, her expression didn't change one iota when she saw the guests at the door. She looked at Daniel who put on an exaggerated smile, urging her to do the same. Getting the point she allowed a small smile to creep up on her features. "Morning." She replied, "I'll be with you in one minute, can't remember my own name until I've had my coffee." She told them in what Daniel recognised as her _'talk to me again and I'll bite you' _voice.

"Oh no need to worry dear, I packed a thermos in your breakfast basket. I always put in a nice steaming Colombian blend in, don't I Howard?"

"Yes dear."

The woman pushed past Daniel without invitation and picked the basket she had just gifted him, out of his hands. Her husband followed her as she walked to the coffee table and began decanting the items within the basket; including a large silver thermos and two mugs. She opened the thermos and the heavenly smell of fresh java wafted through the air. Drawn to the aroma, Wilhelmina moved away from the door.

Their new neighbour sat on one armchair with her husband hovering behind her. Wilhelmina pulled the robe around her and accepted the mug of coffee as she sat down, Daniel closed the door and came to sit beside her, he too accepting a mug from the woman.

"I was just asking this fine young man if he lived here alone. Obviously not." She smiled. "I'm Helen and this is my husband Howard, say hello Howard."

"Hullo." The man obeyed, hands in his pockets as his wife plated up pastries and condiments, placing them in front of Daniel and Wilhelmina who were staring at the exuberant woman, engrossed in her task but still twittering away.

"Listen to me going on, I still don't know your names dears."

Daniel cleared his throat, still bewildered at how someone could be so chipper at this time in the morning. "Uh, I'm D..." Wilhelmina's hand flew to his bare knee and dug her nails in. "BOB! I'm Bob and this is...uh...my wife, Leigh."

Helen leaned forward in her chair, "Well I'm very pleased to meet you Bob and Leigh. So how long have you two been married?"

"8 years." They answered together.

"Kids?"

"Nope." Again in unison.

"Oh well, still time for that I suppose, but we never had any ourselves and it hasn't made our life any less fulfilling, we're perfectly happy just the two of us aren't we Howard?"

"Yes dear."

"I was just saying to Howard, wasn't I? I was just saying, that house has been empty for a long time. It's about time we got some new blood in the street. Didn't I Howard?"

"Yes dear."

"And then lo and behold, here you two are. I saw the moving van yesterday of course and I came over to see if I could be of any help; but you weren't with the movers. Well I said, I said, that's most irregular, when will they be here? And your movers were most unhelpful, I'm not trying to be an old fuddy duddy but if I were you I would be writing a strongly worded letter about their attitude. Anyway, where was I? Oh yes! So I watched your house for you all day, just to be sure no one went near before you arrived, I didn't like the idea of all your things laying unattended you see, that's all. And then we see you arrive at, what time was it Howard? After midnight wasn't it?"

"Yes dear."

"And you know I'm not normally up that late, but it just so happens I couldn't sleep and oh good gracious, there you were. And I must say, you didn't look like our usual suburbanites. Dressed to the nines I said. Didn't I Howard, I said dressed to the nines?"

"Yes dear."

"Must be coming from some party, were you, was that it, a party?" She finally paused for breath, startling both Daniel and Wilhelmina.

"Eh, yeah, it was one of my clients, I'm an accountant you see. Work from home and one of my biggest clients was having a thing. Normally we wouldn't have gone with it being moving day but you know, gotta keep him happy." Daniel was impressed at how quickly he had covered himself. If Wilhelmina was, she didn't show it, just drank deeply from the mug of coffee, trying to wake herself up.

It seemed to have the desired effect as she suddenly perked up. "Wait, if you saw us arrive, why were you asking if he lived alone?"

Helens smile froze as Willie caught her out. "Oh well, you know, he might have been bringing a lady friend home; didn't want to just make assumptions." She stood up abruptly. "Anyway, we must be off. Pleasure to meet you, shame we can't stay but we have a luncheon to attend, don't we Howard?"

"Yes dear."

Without waiting to be seen out of the house, Helen scurried to the front door and opened it. "Say goodbye Howard." She called over her shoulder.

"G'Bye" He droned as he left the house, closing the door behind him.

Daniel slowly turned to face Willie, his sleepy eyes almost crossed in confusion. Wilhelmina was gripping her coffee close to her mouth, staring at the door. "What the hell was that?" She asked, genuinely in disbelief of the entity which had just breezed through the house.

"That was hurricane Helen." He answered.

She leaned back against the cushion. "Well I think she believed we are who we said we are. Why wouldn't she?"

Daniel nodded, then laughed. "What?" Willie asked him, twitching her eyebrow.

"She..." He shook his head, biting back a grin. "No never mind, nothing."

Wilhelmina leaned forward. "Shut up and tell me. What?"

Daniel grinned wider and allowed himself to laugh this time. "When she saw us last night...but still thought I lived alone...her face when you asked..."

"What?" She barked getting more exasperated.

"She totally thought you were a high class hooker."

Wilhelmina gasped at him. "She did not! How dare you!"

Daniel laughed again. "Oh trust me, she did."

Wilhelmina leaned back against the cushions again and brought the coffee to her lips. "Whatever, at least it was high class and at least she didn't think I was the one who had to pay for it."

Daniel stopped laughing.

xXx

Marc was standing on the sidewalk, outside the House of Valentino, after being politely escorted from the building after signing the contract to release the five vintage dresses required for the centre spread. It had taken a full 5 minutes of being in charge before his ego inflated and he started becoming cocky in his temporary role, believing he could act as Wilhelmina until her return. He was quickly learning, however, that he wasn't.

He had tried to talk to people in her manner only this morning; instead of eliciting sobs from his targets he was merely mocked for, bizarrely and for no intelligible reason, putting on a British accent. He had attempted to walk through the design house with the same commanding gait as she, the same methodical swaying of hips and head held high, daring people to look him in the eye. All that had resulted from that was him being asked if he needed the bathroom.

Regaining some dignity as he waited outside he felt the surge of pride returning as the white van pulled out of the integrated parking lot. He was in charge of the centre spread shoot, he was in charge of the models, and he was in charge of the five vintage gowns that were to be transported to Mode in the white van now waiting for him at the kerb.

Pulling his Blackberry away from his ear with an exaggerated sigh, he made a show of hitting the end button; to give the impression to the Valentino reps beside him that he was far too important to talk to whomever was on the other line, even though it was no one. The reps however paid him no heed, irked by their nonchalance, and knowing that if he were Wilhelmina they would be far enough up her ass to tickle her tonsils, he put the phone to his ear again and began shouting "No, that's unacceptable." And "Do you know who I am?" down the phone. Just as he gained the attention of the reps by his side, the cell phone began ringing loudly, putting an abrupt end to his charade and causing snickers from the two women at his side.

Red faced, he pressed the answer button as he climbed into the passenger side of the van. "Hello." He spoke through gritted teeth, mortified at his faux-pas and highly irritated by whoever had called and caused him to be caught out.

"Hey Marc! Did you get the gowns?"

"Damn it Betty!" He whined. "You ruin everything!"

"Huh?"

"Never mind, of course I got them!"

"Good! Hurry back. I have HUGE news!" She squealed.

"It's two for one Taco day in the cafeteria?"

"Not THAT huge."

He rolled his eyes. "Whatever, I'll be back soon." He disconnected the call and turned to the driver. "What are you waiting for? Drive!" The man in the driver's seat looked at him in confusion and began speaking at him rapidly in a language he didn't understand and gesticulating madly between the cargo secreted in the back of the vehicle and the road ahead.

Marc pinched the bridge of his nose, feeling the beginnings of a tension headache and then shook both hands in front of his face. "Enough!" He sighed deeply, calming down and then smiled at the man, stating the address of the Meade building.

The driver shook his head and pointed to a note of paper on the dash. Marc read it, noting the address for Isabella's offices was written upon it. Marc felt the band of pain in his head tighten, could no-one do anything right? "Not ISABELLA; MODE!" He almost shouted, as if merely by increasing the volume the man would suddenly understand English.

Again, the man shook his head and stabbed his finger on the scrawled address. Marc snatched it up and pulled a pen from his pocket and scratched out the address, writing Mode's in its place and thrust it under the driver's nose. "Here, go." When the driver made no move, his voice crept higher. "El drive-o the van-o to Mode-o."

Finally the engine roared to life and Marc leaned back on the leather of the chair, ignoring the still giggling reps outside his window.

xXx

Daniel was less than impressed with the offerings from the wardrobe. He had stood in the bedroom wearing the cream chinos and diamond patterned jumper for fifteen minutes now, not willing to go downstairs and be mocked by Wilhelmina. He had contemplated just wearing the clothes he had arrived in but after running from a gunman, sitting in a stuffy police station and sleeping in them, they were more than a little ripe.

His stomach rumbling as he thought of the pastries which lay untouched downstairs he decided satisfying his appetite was more important than avoiding the criticism of Wilhelmina Slater, besides, her wardrobe was just as bad and on Wilhelmina he was sure she would be more embarrassed than him.

As he bounded down the stairs, spurred by the thought of Danish pastries and croissants, he heard a noise in the kitchen. Grabbing a chocolate croissant, from the selection their neighbour had left on the table, he stuffed it in his mouth and pushed open the kitchen door, grinning around the pastry in his mouth, eager to see the fashionista in bargain basement attire.

He stopped dead in his tracks, the door swung back and hit him in the face, squashing the croissant into his mouth and smearing chocolate on his nose. He pushed the door open again, taking the remainder of the food out his mouth and wiped his face, only making the thick gooey mess spread further. "How the hell did you do that?"

She was leaning against the counter directly opposite him, coffee cup in hand. "What?" She asked him, brow furrowed in confusion.

He stuck out his arms, his hands gesturing up and down her body. "THAT!"

She looked down at herself. She was wearing a pair of black tight jeans, she had found way in the back of the closet; had stolen a man's white shirt from Daniel's closet, sleeves turned up to the middle of her forearm and synched it at the waist with a black belt she had found attached to some hideous first wife looking dress. She had finished the outfit with the red stiletto's she had worn yesterday and her hair was pulled in a sleek ponytail, fastened at the nape of her neck.

Daniel was pissed off; she looked good.

She shrugged. "20 years Daniel, you learn to work with what you have."

"Well what can you do for my wardrobe then?"

She looked him up and down and tilted her head, pursing her lips. "Burn it?" She couldn't help but let out a short laugh.

He narrowed his eyes. "Thank you." He said sarcastically before whining; "It's not fair. I look like an extra from freaking Happy Days and you manage to look like a normal person."

"That is the meanest thing you have ever said to me." She responded, completely serious.

He smirked at her and moved across the kitchen to get a paper towel. Picking up a roll he set about cleaning his face. "Your breakfast is still sitting out there."

"My breakfast is coffee." She took another deep drink.

He scrunched up the paper and tossed it in the trash. "Willie I've been with you since 2pm yesterday and you haven't eaten a thing. Go and eat."

She stretched across the island, to the fruit bowl in the middle and plucked a single white grape from the stalk and popped it in her mouth. Daniel heard it crunch under her teeth. "Happy?" She asked him when she swallowed.

"Oh yes, much better." He mocked her.

She rolled her eyes and walked from the room, still clutching her coffee. "You've still got chocolate on your nose dumbass."

He brought his palm up to his nose and wiped madly before following her back into the living room. She was still completely ignoring the food on the table, but had the thermos of coffee open and was pouring even more into her cup. He was about to start in on her again about eating something when there was a knock at the door.

"If that's Helen again, just shoot me. It'll be less painful." Daniel moaned.

"Deal." She answered without hesitation.

Standing up she looked through the frosted glass. "I don't think it is. I think it's a man, and he's not hunched over like that defeated moron she's married to."

She walked to the door and reached for the doorknob; every muscle in her body tensed when she felt Daniel's arm go around her. "What the hell are you doing?" She hissed, hand poised to open the door.

"Acting married." He shrugged.

"How many couples do you know that answer the door with their fucking arms around each other? Go eat junk on the sofa, scratch your ass and watch sports like a normal suburban husband." She whispered harshly.

"Just open the door Willie." He hissed back, his arm not leaving her.

She reduced her eyes to slits before taking a deep breath and opening the door. As soon as the door opened and they were presented with the man on the other side, the hostile expressions stopped as the act began; his arm on her shoulder, hers went to his waist and they tilted their heads towards each other. "Hi." They chorused in a sing-song voice, smiling sickeningly.

"Wow, you two really are going all out on this aren't you?" The tall blonde man smirked.

"Huh?" Daniel questioned as both their smiles threatened to betray them.

The visitor smiled wider. "Officer Richards, I'm your liaison officer."

Wilhelmina and Daniel visibly relaxed and stepped back to let the plain clothed officer inside. He stepped into the middle of the room and turned to face them as they closed the door. The pair looked to him and then quickly realised their arms with still draped over each other. They released one and other with disgruntled looks and Wilhelmina shoved Daniel by the shoulder, making him stumble away from her.

"The love gone already huh?" Officer Richards jeered at them.

"And alas I just don't know where it all went wrong." Wilhelmina deadpanned. "Please tell me you're here to tell me you've caught your man and I'm released from this hell."

The man chuckled; "Afraid not. I'm just here to introduce myself. I'll be keeping you updated and getting weekly reports from you. If you need anything, you need to let me know, don't be calling anyone."

"Fine, I need my wardrobe delivered, food that won't turn me into Oprah's fatter sister and a more realistic living allowance than a paltry one hundred dollars." She raised her eyebrow at him, folding her arms.

He shook his head, still smiling at the woman's temperament. "Not gonna happen."

"What good are you then?" She walked around and slumped on the sofa, like a moody teen.

"Well today I'm here to drop off your car." He took the keys from his pocket and tossed them on the couch, next to her. I'm guessing you don't have anything to report on after one night so I'll leave you to it. My number is on a business card on the fridge. It's listed on a plumber's card. Anything urgent, call me, night or day. Have a good week you two." He grinned at them before showing himself out.

"Well at least we've got a car now." Daniel reasoned.

Wilhelmina wasn't listening, she was dangling the car keys from her hand and staring at them with an unreadable expression. After a moment or two, she exhaled and tilted her head. "I know they took our cards, but how much money do you have in your wallet?"

He shrugged. "Couple of hundred."

She nodded and stood up, walking into the kitchen and grabbing the hundred dollars from the envelope. She came back through and held out her hand, "Give me it."

"What? No! Why?" He exclaimed, taking a step back.

She rolled her eyes. "Stop asking questions and stop fighting me, you know I'll win in the long run. Save the time and effort and just give me it now."

He weighed up the argument in his mind; she was right, she would keep needling him until he got so irritated he'd give her a kidney to shut her up. Pulling his wallet out his back pocket he reached inside it and pulled out some notes, counting them and thrusting them into her hand. "Three hundred and twelve dollars."

Wilhelmina snatched it and walked to the chest in the corner, lifting her purse from it. She rifled through it and pulled out a money clip and began counting her own cash. "And I have about six hundred. So that together with yours and the measly offering from the NYPD gives us about a thousand."

"Who comes out the house with six hundred dollars on them?" He screwed up his face at her.

"Are you complaining?" She arched her brow.

He shook his head. "So what are you gonna do with it?"

"I'm going shopping."

"That's all the money we have Wilhelmina, I'm not letting you blow it on a pair of shoes."

"I will not!"

"I know you won't because I'm coming too."

"No you're not."

"Yes I am. Come on; husband, wife, nice little stroll through the mall? It's what dreams are made of." He grinned.

She pouted. "Fine. Get your coat."

Smiling at his victory he went up the stairs to get his coat. His suit jacket wouldn't really go with the ensemble and he was looking through the wardrobe when he heard an engine roar to life. He ran to the window.

"Son of a bitch!" He yelled as he saw Wilhelmina waving from the car as it moved out the drive and down the street.

xXx

Marc jumped out the cab of the van and met Betty standing on the sidewalk. She was bouncing on the balls of her feet and smiling widely. She was obviously waiting to share what she thought was her HUGE news.

She ran up behind him and drummed her hands on his shoulder. "Guess what, guess what, guess what!"

"What?" He droned, really not caring.

"Guess who I just interviewed!"

"Uhm...I don't know, your sister? She's going to tell us about the importance of hairspray and lycra for every occasion?"

"MERYL STREEP!" She squealed, unable to contain herself.

Marc spun round a startled smile on his face and eyes bulging out his sockets. "Really?"

"YES!" She jumped around on her feet. "Isn't that AMAZING!"

Marc kept the smile on his face and she held on to his wrists ,still jumping. He shook his head. "No."

She stopped jumping. "What? Did you hear me? It's Meryl Streep!"

Marc nodded slowly, still smiling incredulously. "And I'm guessing since this is a fashion magazine, you asked her all about Devil Wears Prada?"

"Of course." She smiled proudly.

He continued nodding. "And Miranda Priestly. Who is supposed to be a carbon copy of who the writers thought was the biggest diva in the industry?"

"Yep!" She still smiled.

"Who is?"

"Anna Wintour."

"And we work for?"

Betty's smile fell. "Wilhelmina Slater."

"Who hates?"

"Anna Wintour." She finished on a whisper.

Betty stood staring at the sidewalk, knowing that when Wilhelmina saw the article she would be spitting teeth. Everyone knew she was pissed at not being portrayed as the biggest, baddest, editrix in the land. Betty suddenly hoped they didn't catch this gunman for a very long time.

Marc sashayed around the back of the van, smiling. Betty following forlornly. "Thank God they left at least one competent person in charge." He said about himself as he opened the van doors with a flourish.

His smile quickly evaporated when he was greeted with trays upon tray of Sushi and 3 cases of champagne. "What the?"

"Marc, where are the gowns for the cover! MARC?" Betty panicked.

"I...they were here."

Betty marched round to the driver's side and spoke in broken Spanish to the man in the seat. When she came back round she was so pale Marc could almost see through her.

"What?" He asked, not really wanting to know.

"He and his brother own a delivery company. He was picking up food from a restaurant near Valentino to cater Isabella's luncheon and his brother was sent to pick up the dresses."

Marc paled as he dimly registered seeing a second white van pull up as he was pretending to be the all important editor.

"When you brought him here he called his brother to tell him they got the jobs mixed up."

"Which means..." Marc whispered.

"Isabella has our centre spread."


	4. Chapter 4

Marc sat on the kerb, intermittently switching between wheezing and taking great gasping breaths of his inhaler. "I'm dead, I am a dead man, a dead, gay, beautiful man."

"Okay stop freaking out and think." Betty said, pacing up and down on the sidewalk; "We can fix this."

"How! We can't just show up at the offices and sneak them out, every magazine in the country is on to us, after what we did at Elle. We can't even get Daniel and Wilhelmina to intercede on our behalf." His eyes began to bulge as a thought struck him. "Oh God Betty, what if they want to speak to Willie or Daniel? They've been gone two days and already we've screwed everything up."

"Look, let's just concentrate on how to get out of this. The dresses are the centre spread for next months issue, we still have time."

"That would be true." Marc nodded. "If it wasn't for the fact that Isabella's schedule is seven days behind ours, meaning they haven't finished their current issue, meaning they could easily call Valentino, get permission to use the dresses and feature them in THIS months issue."

Betty stopped pacing and faced him, wringing her hands. "Okay...resume panicking."

Marc dipped his head and wheezed. "Oh God. When this issue hits the stands...who am I kidding, what issue? We have no centre spread and an interview we can't even print, we're screwed Betty, you think your Dad can get us jobs at Flushing Burgers?"

"Well you never know, Daniel and Wilhelmina might be away for weeks, months, years." She said hopefully, trying to lighten the mood.

Marc scoffed, "Trust me, they could be away for the next two decades and the first thing Willie will do when she gets out is hunt me down and feed my man parts to a python."

Betty screwed up her face in distaste. "Your theories are always disturbingly detailed."

"It's better to think in graphic detail, then you're prepared. You better start imagining some scenarios yourself, I sure as hell won't be alone in the firing line. She'll probably just line us up, one bullet, straight through; kill two birds with one stone." He moaned, throwing bits of gravel at his feet.

"Marc get up!" She exclaimed suddenly.

"Why? I might as well get used to sitting in the streets."

"Stop with the AmDram and get up!" She marched towards him and pulled on his sleeve, he got up reluctantly.

"Where are we going?"

"Isabella." She replied, opening the door to the van and directing the driver to the building he was supposed to go to in the first place.

"What for?"

"The dresses, of course." She slammed the van door closed and fastened her seatbelt.

"And just how are you going to manage that."

She grinned at him. "I'm going to kill two birds with one stone."

xXx

Wilhelmina pushed open the door of her 'home' and let it slam behind her, immediately rolling her eyes at the prone figure of Daniel, sulking on the couch with his arms folded. She dropped the car keys in a bowl on the table by the door, he didn't even turn to acknowledge her presence. She walked behind the couch and entered the kitchen. She counted to herself; 5...4...3...2...1... She knew his curiosity would get the better of him and smirked as he pushed open the door when she reached zero.

He entered the room with a sullen expression, arms still folded. He tried to appear nonchalant, walking to the fridge and sneaking a peek at the array of bags she held. Willie held the tops of the bags closed so he couldn't see the contents, determined to make him ask her. She got her wish as he pulled out a can of soda and slammed the door shut.

"Show me what ridiculous things you spent the very last of our cash on."

"Ask nicely." She smirked.

"Willie, just goddamn show me, it was my money too."

"Stop pouting because I left you behind." She laughed at him.

He jumped up on the counter. "I'm not pouting, now show me."

"Fine." She firstly pulled a small bag out of one of the bigger bags and dumped it on the table, it was bulging.

"What's that?"

"Make up." She shrugged.

"Make up!" He jumped off the counter. "You blew our money on MAKE UP!"

She flapped her hands at him. "Calm down, it was all free. It's all samples from the Dior counter, I guess Betty and Amanda writing that article came in useful after all, but if you ever tell them that I'll bury you in Battery Park."

"You got all that free?"

"Yes, and I would have gotten a lot more if they had any goddamn boutiques in this town. I had to go into a store Daniel, an ACTUAL honest to God store, with people. I need a shower."

"What else?"

"Well I stopped for lunch..."

"I thought you didn't eat."

"STOP CUTTING ME OFF!" She snapped at him. "I went for lunch and kicked up such a stink at the state of the meal I got it comped aaaand, I got them to throw in a free meal for two just to shut me up."

Daniel laughed, impressed. "Nice."

She opened one of the bags, "Okay, this, I had to pay for, but if we're going to be stuck here then I'm going to need it." She pulled out four bottles of wine; two white and two red and sat them on the counter.

"Anything else?"

"Nope."

Daniel looked wide eyed at the four paltry bottles of wine. "That's all you got? You blew a thousand dollars on wine? What no food, you didn't feel the need to splurge on some caviar?" he asked, sarcastically, angered at her blatant disregard for their situation.

"None that we could afford on our budget." She shuddered. "Dear god I hate that word."

She went to walk out of the room and lifted one last bag. "What's in that one?" He asked, curiously.

She looked down at it. "Underwear, if you think I'm wearing government issue panties you are sorely mistaken."

"Underwear and wine? Are you for real, some families have to last a month on that amount of money and it's all gone on underwear and wine?"

She stopped at the door. "Look dumbass, I got what I needed to, the basics I need to at least attempt to make it through this nightmare; and for your information, I didn't spend all the money, there's about five hundred dollars left." She narrowed her eyes, annoyed at him, "That one's for you." She snapped, looking at a spot behind him.

As the door swung closed behind her, he turned to see a smaller bag sat on the side. He lifted it up and peered inside, half expecting a venomous to rise from its depths and strike him. The bag contained nothing more dangerous than a 2 six packs of beer and a pack of Calvin Klein boxers. He looked at the door Wilhelmina had just walked through and tilted his head in confusion. That was thoughtful, since when did she do thoughtful and when the hell had he ever been the subject of it.

He picked the bag up and pushed the door open just in time to see her coming down the stairs. She stopped halfway down upon seeing him. Daniel held the bag up and hit it with his free hand. "Thanks." He said softly.

She started walking down the stairs again. "Nothing to thank me for, I just didn't want you drinking my wine and the idea of you going commando makes me heave."

Wilhelmina pushed past him and sat on the couch again, just as she felt herself beginning to unwind, there was a knock at the door. She threw her head back and groaned loudly. "What is it with these goddamn do-gooding neighbours?"

Daniel chuckled and made his way to the door. "Behave...Mrs Johnson."

"I will fucking skin you if you call me that again." She hissed.

"Love you too baby." He quipped and before she could respond he opened the door to two men in their mid-thirties.

"Well Helen told me we had new neighbours, but she didn't tell me that a big handsome chunk of man meat had moved in!" The first man offered, by way of greeting.

"Tongue in Jesse." The taller man next to him warned.

Jesse smacked a hand into his partners chest. "Oh shush, I'm just being friendly." He stuck out a hand towards Daniel. "Pleased to meet you Bob, is it Bob? I'm Jesse , and this ball and chain shackled to my left leg is James. I know I know Jesse James, ha ha, let's move past it shall we?" Jesse spoke quickly and then clapped his hands together. "So where's your good lady wife that Helen told us all about?"

Daniel stood back far enough so they could see the back of the couch, with Wilhelmina's head visible. "Oh Leigh sweetie!" Daniel sang, "Visitors!"

Wilhelmina closed her eyes and sighed inwardly. _I am so sick of being cheerful. _She pushed herself up from the couch and on went the all too familiar fake smile. She walked around the couch to stand beside Daniel. "Don't be rude _honey." _She emphasised the last word and pinched Daniel's side painfully as she snaked her arm around him. "Invite them in."

They stood back, allowing the guests entry into their home. "Why don't you go through to the kitchen, we can sit outside." Daniel smiled.

The couple smiled and walked past them into the kitchen. Daniel closed the front door and immediately let go of Wilhelmina and began rubbing his side. "Ow! What the hell was that for?" He hissed.

She leaned towards him and whispered harshly. "That was for sweetie! And THAT-" she slapped him upside the head. "Is for baby!" She stormed away from him, leaving him nursing his head and side. "I suppose I'll go play host to yet more nosey busybodies!"

"You invited them in!" He called after her, quietly. His words were lost though, as she pushed opened the kitchen door and moved out of sight.

When Daniel was done soothing his bruised head, side and ego, he followed his 'wife' through to where the guests were. Opening the kitchen door, he heard voices coming from the yard. Thank Wilhelmina had figured out how to open the French doors because he had tried when she was out and had only succeeded in locking them more, if that was possible. He stepped through the doors and narrowed his eyes when he saw that Wilhelmina was offering out his beers. James leaned forward and took one but Jesse leaned forward to Wilhelmina. "Oh not for me hun, you have any wine?"

"Sure!" Daniel shouted from the doorway, "Red or White?"

"Surprise me!"

Daniel retreated back into the coolness of the kitchen and perused the bottles Wilhelmina had brought back in with her. Deciding one of the reds looked the most expensive, he located a corkscrew and poured some into the biggest wine glass he could find. "Give away my beer." He mumbled under his breath.

Taking the glass back to Jessie he smiled and avoided Wilhelmina's sideways glare as she took in just how much of the drink he was giving away. Jesse's eyes widened as he took the proffered glass. "Woah, you trying to get me drunk sailor?" He laughed.

Daniel looked distinctly uncomfortable under the other mans scrutiny and felt himself blush. "Oh don't pay any attention to him, he's teasing." Said James, chuckling but giving a warning glance to his partner.

Jesse, shrugged off his boyfriends stare with a laugh, the motion causing the liquid inside the glass to slosh over and some to spill on the ground. Wilhelmina was standing next to him and jumped back to avoid the splash. Jesse looked down to see what mess he had made and he gasped when he saw Wilhelmina's feet. "Tell me I did NOT just almost ruin a pair of Christian Louboutins, Fall 2009!" He shrieked. "Oh my word, let me see them! Living this deep in suburbia the closest I get to labels is the name tags my mother sews in my underwear."

He leaned forward, staring at the shoes as Wilhelmina and Daniel cast each other a worried glance; a gay man who knew fashion? Odd were if anyone was going to recognise them, it would be this man. Wilhelmina hurriedly pulled a chair out and sat down, hiding her feet under the table, unfortunately there was nothing that could be done to hide her face, which both men next to her were now studying. "You know, you look familiar." James said, eyebrow raised as he tried to place her.

"I used to be a model." She blurted out, hoping they would buy it, after all it wasn't a lie, she just hoped they didn't fit a name to her face.

Daniel quickly backed her up, sitting down and draping an arm over the back of her chair. "Yeah, she gets it all the time. She was the face of pretty much everything when she was working, you'll have seen her countless places."

Their guests looked to Daniel, then to Wilhelmina and then at each other and nodded slowly. "Guess that's it then." James said, not entirely sure.

"Anyway, enough of guess who, what are you two doing tomorrow night?"

Before Wilhelmina could think up a plan to get them out of whatever they were about to be invited to, Daniel spoke up. "Nothing, not a thing, why?"

Willie fought back the urge to bitch slap him and swallowed a sigh of exasperation as Jessie leaned forward grinning. "Well you have plans now. Mr and Mrs Dull and Duller, Helen and Howard are having a big garden party. We usually take it in turns once a month to host a little shin-dig, theirs are always the most fun. One time, Howard actually said a full sentence without being prompted."

"That I don't believe." Daniel laughed.

"Wait." Willie interjected. "You're telling me that their parties are _fun?"_

James nodded. "Not anything to do with their company of course, they just have the biggest house, biggest garden, best pool, amazing food. And it's fun to watch Helen freak out every time someone gets a little close to her Hydrangeas."

Jesse leaned into Willie and put his hand on her arm. "One time, after too many cocktails, I threw up in them. I've never seen a person go a more interesting colour in all my life."

Daniel was about to say something, when Wilhelmina laughed at the neighbours comment, _properly laughed_. He looked at her laughing with the man who was still technically a stranger. She was smiling as she looked at the younger man, sitting in her jeans and shirt, Daniel had never seen this woman before.

"So you'll be there?" Jesse asked Wilhelmina, nodding.

Daniel braced himself for the inevitable refusal and making him look like a fool for just saying they were free.

"We'll be there." Willie affirmed and Daniel choked on his beer.

"Yay!" Jesse clapped and jumped off the chair. "Come on you." He gestured at his partner. "We've got more neighbours to go and bribe, none as fabulous as you of course." He smiled at Wilhelmina then air kissed her as he left. James rolled his eyes at his boyfriends antics and shook Daniel's hand before following Jesse out the side gate.

Daniel turned to Wilhelmina. "What was that? We're going? Or are you going to dive out at the last minute with some lame ass excuse?"

She shook her head, looking at her wine glass and smirking. "Oh no, we're going."

"Why? And why we're you so nice to him, you're not nice to anyone and shouldn't he be the one person we should steer clear of? If anyone is going to know who Wilhelmina Slater is, it's your new best friend."

She nodded, pursing her lips, still looking at the glass under her fingers. "True and if he does know who Wilhelmina is then he would know that she is the last person in the world to play nicey-nicey, he'd never think it was me."

"Can we stop talking about you in the third person?"

She chuckled. "Besides, he's not too bad."

"You're just saying that because he sucked up your ass." He laughed, swigging from his bottle.

"It's not that." She cleared her throat and looked upward. "Let's just say he's my homo-replacement therapy."

"Ah." He smiled, getting it. "You miss Marc, jeez Willie, it's been two days." He teased her.

She got up and drank deeply from the glass, "I'm getting a refill, you want another?"

Daniel leaned back in his chair. "Dear God, you're being cordial, I could get used to this." He snickered.

"Well we are supposed to be married." She said from behind him, drinking the last drop in the goblet. "Have to keep up appearances don't we..." She leaned down over his shoulder, mouth near his ear. "Sweetheart." She grinned and walked away.

He turned in the seat, watching her retreating form; when she stepped out of sight he smirked to himself and linked his hands behind his head, propping his feet up on the table.

Yeah, he could get used to this.

xXx

Marc held two trays of sushi in front of his face as they followed the van driver into the lobby of Isabella as Betty struggled with two cases of champagne, trying to conceal herself. The driver walked up to the security desk and showed him the delivery order, the guard waved them through without even a glance at Betty or Marc.

The three of them stepped in the elevator and Marc pressed the button for the desired floor. When they arrived they tentatively stepped out on the floor, looking around for anyone that might recognise them as imposters. When nobody showed them the slightest bit of attention, Marc dumped the trays he was carrying into the drivers arms. He took the champagne from Betty and stacked the boxes at her feet, he grabbed her hand and started pulling her down the corridor.

"Marc!" She squealed, "We could at least help him! He did drive us here!"

"You'll have enough time to help him when you're working for him after Willie fires us!" He hissed.

Betty angled her head over her shoulder. "Sorry!" She shouted to the man who had brought them there as Marc hurried along the office, dragging her with him.

Marc came to an abrupt halt, making Betty crash into him and sending her glasses askew on her face, as they came to the office they were looking for.

_Carlos Medina: Creative Director_

Without knocking, Marc swung the door open and pushed Betty inside; he stepped in after her and buttoned his jacket, holding his head high. He closed the door behind him as the man behind the desk leaned back in his chair, grinning. "Well, you made it here quicker than I thought."

"We know you have the dresses and we want them back." Betty squeaked, voice wavering slightly.

Carlos whistled through his teeth. "No can do, I'm afraid. I just got off the phone with The House of Valentino and they have given us full permission to use the dresses for this months issue."

Marc stepped forward. "This is totally unprofessional."

"No, what's unprofessional is losing five vintage gowns from a major designer. I'm surprised Wilhelmina hasn't had you two flayed and made into knee high boots. Why isn't she the one here?"

Marc and Betty stole a quick glance at each other. "She...uh...she wants us to clean up our own mess. She thinks it's good experience to have to do it alone."

Carlos laughed. "She's a clever one, or am I right in thinking she doesn't even know yet?"

Betty swallowed. "A trade!" She shouted.

"Excuse me?"

"A trade, we have an exclusive interview with Meryl Streep, you can have it. Just give us the gowns back."

Carlos leaned back in the chair, running the end of a pen around his lips. "Interesting, she hasn't given an interview to a fashion publication in years. I think we can work something out."

Betty heaved a sigh of relief. "Thank you."

"The Streep interview will get you_ two_ of the dresses back." He smirked.

"That's not the deal!" Betty squealed at him.

"Take it or leave it", he shrugged.

A silence fell over the room as all three looked at each other. Betty heard footsteps behind her and she saw Marc come into view, arms folded and a steely glint in his eye. He walked right up to the desk and stood in the centre, facing Carlos. "You give us the dresses, and I don't go right across the hall and tell Penelope you've been a spy for Wilhelmina for the last three years. I wonder what she'd say if she knew? You'd be out of Isabella, Wilhelmina would know you tried to keep our spread from us, so you'd have no hope at Mode, no magazine would touch you."

Behind him Betty smiled as she heard the clear sound of Median swallowing.

Ten minutes later, the elevator opened in the lobby and Marc and Betty pushed out five mannequins, immaculately dressed in couture gowns.

"Giving him the Streep interview was a stroke of genius Betty! Penelope hates Wintour as much as Willie does." He grinned, pushing two dolls as he tried to drag a third behind him.

"What about you! You were so good! I never knew you could be so threatening."

"Learned from the best!" He exclaimed.

They stopped at the doors to the building. "How are we gonna get back to Mode?" Betty whined.

Behind them the elevator dinged again and Marc brightened when their chariot driver walked out. "Hey Paco! Over here! Remember us? You drive-o the van-o back to Mode-o?" He shouted across the lobby in his own brand of Spanish.

The man nodded at them and came to their aide, Betty rolled her eyes at Marc and snorted. "Marc that was offensive on like six different levels."

"Aww" He moaned as the loaded the van. "I was aiming for seven."

xXx

"So, how the hell are we supposed to pass the time?" Daniel asked, savouring the second bottle of beer, knowing he had limited stocks.

"Oh I don't know, typical suburban things; baking, bike rides, ritual murder/suicide."

Daniel laughed at her, picking the label from his beer bottle. "Did the uh...did the police take your photo-fit of the girl?"

Daniel felt the atmosphere change instantly, gone was the light hearted company he had been experiencing. "No, not yet." She answered, stoically.

"Did she really look like..."

"Stop." She warned him. "Just stop, I can't remember what she looked like, I don't know what use I'm going to be to the police. All I see when I try and picture it is..."

"Nico." He finished for her, softly.

"I don't want to talk about it."

"It might help?" He offered.

"It might, but I'm still not going there, not with you." She wouldn't look at him.

He looked around them. "It's not like you have a lot of options out here."

She stood from the table, taking her glass with her. "Goodnight Daniel."

She walked behind him, towards the open French doors. "Willie..." He called after her, trying again.

"Goodnight!" She snapped.

Daniel sighed as she slid the door shut behind her with a thud. Yet again, his big mouth had landed him in trouble with Wilhelmina and yet again he was stuck with the same robot from the office. He ran his hands down his tired face. In the space of two days, he had been ignored by her, fought with her, saved her life, went on the run with her, lived with her, laughed with her and was now back to being ignored by her.

He wondered what tomorrow would bring.


	5. Chapter 5

The next morning did not find Wilhelmina in a better mood; when she came down the stairs Daniel was just folding up the sheets on the couch and he stopped when he saw her coming down. Yet again she had somehow managed to make the clothes in her wardrobe appear somewhat fashionable; but then most things would if paired with the shoes she still refused to part with.

Daniel hated the fact that the living room was his sleeping area, he had zero privacy and was very aware of the fact he was wearing only his boxers while she was fully dressed and ready for the day. He was suddenly at a loss as what to do with his hands, feeling he should at least attempt to cover himself, he settled for focussing on the sheet and spent too long folding it. "Good morning," he mumbled.

Wilhelmina stopped at the bottom of the stairs and looked at him, an awkward tension surrounding them; she didn't want a repeat of last night, didn't want him prying into her head. "Morning. Did you, uh, you call in to the police station last night?"

He nodded, still taking his time stacking the linen he had slept in. "Right after I came in."

She nodded and pushed the door to the kitchen open, stepping through and letting it swing closed behind her. Daniel watched the door swing on its hinges and dropped the sheets on the couch, following her through and swinging the door roughly. "What _exactly_ did I do?" he snapped.

Wilhelmina looked at him in genuine bewilderment. "What are you babbling about?"

"How could you sit out there with perfect strangers and be this perfectly nice, amiable person, but with me, I get the permanent cold shoulder?"

"I don't have a history with these perfect strangers Daniel, I don't have a relationship filled with mistrust and resentment on both sides."

He climbed onto a stool, no longer caring about his state of undress. "When are you going to get it Willie, I don't resent you. You need to realise that out here, we're all the other knows. Things would be a damn lot easier if you just let that damn wall fall instead of retreating back behind it every time you accidentally let a brick drop."

She squeezed her eyes shut, pinching the bridge of her nose. "Can you please let me get my caffeine hit before you start quoting _Chicken Soup for the SouI _at me_?"_

"Why do I bother?" Daniel asked to himself and stood up again. "Do you realise we spent nearly 3 whole hours out there alone together, getting along? And it's not the first time, is it? Don't you see that it just shows we have things in common? We can stand each other, maybe even like each other?"

"Why are you so gung-ho about us getting along all of a sudden? It sure as hell hasn't bothered you the past three and a half years?" She was getting tired of his early morning attack.

"For the past three and a half years, we haven't been stuck in a fucking house together cut off from everyone we care about! A situation we wouldn't be in, if it wasn't for you! If you hadn't been so goddamn adamant about getting your own damn way and changed the time of the shoot then we would never have been there in the first place!"

"So it's my fault? It's my fault we can't agree on a single damn thing? It's my fault that for the past almost four years we have clashed heads so many times we don't know any other way to work? It's all my fault? I'm sure that's what you think Daniel, I'm sure it's what a lot of people in your camp think; but you are just as unrelenting at times as I am Daniel! And this time, yeah you're probably right, if I didn't change the times then no, we wouldn't have been there. We wouldn't have seen a girl get a bullet in her head and stuffed in a bag and there would be no one to identify the scum that did it! He would have got away with it, would you prefer that Daniel? Another murderer walking the streets, as long as I let you get your way?"

"That's a low blow, even for you. You know fine well I didn't mean that."

"Look, just stop. If we keep fighting then we'll end up killing each other. Let's just stay out of each other's way, I'll tone down the attitude and you can the whining and we'll struggle through this somehow. Just don't expect this to force us into some kind of long overdue friendship, because it's not gonna happen."

Daniel leaned back, drumming his fingers on the surface; eventually he nodded his head and bit the inside of his cheek. He stood abruptly and started to leave to go dress himself. He violently pushed the swing door of the kitchen open and called back to her in an even voice, not turning to look. "I made you your coffee."

As the door swung shut, Wilhelmina looked over to the freshly brewed pot in the corner. She knew Daniel wasn't much of a coffee drinker. She walked to the pot and poured herself some. She looked into the cup, at the small gesture he had prepared for her, and sighed.

She tipped it down the sink.

XX

"So if it was buy one get one free I should just be able to keep the free one, right?" Amanda reasoned down the phone , filing her nails as she spoke to her friend in styles. "I know, that's what I said! But the store didn't agree and neither did the arresting officer, who I gotta say was a little handsy when he cuffed me, but in a good way; it totally reignited my dirty cop fantasy."

She stopped speaking and dropped the file when she spun in her chair and saw the police officer standing grinning at her, having just heard her little confession. "Gotta go," dhe whispered and disconnected the headset.

"Yes officer, how can I help you? Is this about the missing pudding cups in the cafeteria? Do you need to frisk me?" she rambled, leaning over the desk.

"That won't be necessary." He chuckled. "I'm looking for Claire Meade or Marc St James."

"O-M-G, is this about Daniel and Wilhelmina?" Her eyes sparked with interest.

"I'm afraid I can't discuss that with anyone other than the contact names we have, do you know where I can find Ms Meade or Mr St James?"

Amanda looked shiftily from side to side. "I'm Claire Meade."

"_You're _Claire Meade?" He laughed.

"Uh-huh." Amanda nodded enthusiastically.

"You're Daniel Meade's sixty-one year old mother?" He was still smiling, amused at the obvious lie.

"I take a lot of vitamins." She winked.

"And a fair few knocks to the head as well, I'm guessing." A strong voice rang out from behind the officer and he turned.

"Officer Harper, I presume? Claire Meade;" she extended her hand and shook the one he offered back. "We spoke on the phone." Amanda pouted as Claire led the officer down the tube, away from her.

"Yes, ma'am, can I find Marc St James here too?"

"He's in his office, we can talk privately in there."

Officer Harper followed Claire to a small, glass walled office situated across from the imposing conference room. She pushed the door open with a small click and entered with him right behind her.

"Marc, Betty, this is Officer Harper."

Marc and Betty instantly downed tools and turned their full attention to the pair at the door. He turned to Claire. "I'm sorry but I'm only permitted to speak to yourself and Mr St James."

"I can assure you, Betty is the soul of discretion; she is close to Daniel and any information you give us would be passed to her anyway."

The officer turned to Betty and, after a couple of seconds of scrutiny, nodded. "Alright." He cleared his throat. "As you know Mr Meade and Ms Slater have been placed in a safe house for their own protection. Now I cannot tell you where or anything about the identities they were given-"

"They were given new identities, that's so James Bond...that's hot."

"Thank you Marc!" Claire berated him. "Continue officer."

"They witnessed the murder of a young woman, she was shot and disposed of in front of them. They inadvertently revealed themselves to the gunman." Claire gasped and brought her hand to her mouth as Harper spoke. "The man they identified works for someone much more dangerous, I cannot stress this to you enough, now the only reason we are telling you as much as this is because if the men we are after do indeed know who Ms Slater and Mr Meade are then they could easily track them to this building; it is the suggestion of the N.Y.P.D. that you heighten security until all this is over."

"Of course." Claire whispered. "Tell me, how is my son?"

"Both he and Ms Slater are fine ma'am. He seemed to be helping her hold it together pretty well. She was pretty shaken up."

Claire scoffed. "Please, the only thing that shakes that woman up is when her botox starts to fade."

The police officer placed his hand on his hips, regarding Claire sternly. "Ms Meade, she was the only person that saw the face of the victim, and from what she told me it was pretty close to her own daughter; believe me, it affected her, a girl is dead."

Claire paled slightly and looked at the floor, ashamed. "I apologise, Wilhelmina and I...never mind, now's not the time. Can we speak with them?"

He shook his head. "I'm afraid not, but we have a weekly liaison officer going to the house. He called two days ago so he isn't scheduled again until next week, we do ensure they check in nightly with us though. Any messages you may need to pass or anything important you need to get to them can be sent through the liaison officer."

"Could you tell Daniel we're thinking of him...oh and I guess Wilhelmina too?" Betty spoke for the first time.

"Tell Willie, the magazine is fine and dandy and I'll have a spa weekend lined up as soon as she gets home!" Marc contributed.

The officer chuckled. "I'm sure I could manage that, would you like to add anything?"

"Tell my son I love him."

"Anything for Ms Slater?" he asked her, still unimpressed with the callousness which she had treated the situation with.

She took a deep breath. "Tell her...tell her I'm sorry for what she saw...I am a mother too after all."

He nodded at her slowly. "Anything else?"

Marc stood up swiftly. "OH!"

All three heads turned to look at him. He ran from the desk and swung the glass door open. "I'll be right back!"

XX

Wilhelmina was sitting in the garden, her hands clasped over her stomach with her legs stretched out in front of her. Daniel hadn't come near her since this morning and they were supposed to be leaving soon. She rolled her eyes and moaned to herself. This time last week she was going to a gala, dressed in Valentino, with a renowned actor on her arm. Now she was going to a neighbourhood barbeque, dressed in denim and with Daniel Meade. She heard the door slide open behind her and from the corner of her eye, she saw him sit beside her. They both looked straight ahead, not looking at each other.

"We still going to show our faces at this thing?"

"Yep."

"We still going to play the picture perfect couple?"

"Uh-huh."

"Fine, paint on that smile you seem to be able to pull out for anyone but me and let's get it over with." He pushed himself up from the table and walked back to the door, he was almost through it when he heard her speak.

"You're right."

He stopped in his tracks and turned, cupping his hand to his ear. "I'm sorry, say that again? I don't believe I've ever heard you use those words."

She huffed and faced him. "I said you're right. We're in this together and there's no point making it more painful than it has to be. I just...I don't know how to NOT antagonize you, I'm so good at it." She smirked.

He smiled back, recognising the veiled insult as an attempt on her part. "Are you suggesting a truce?"

She pouted, tilting her head up and thinking. "Call it a temporary ceasefire."

He laughed. "I suppose that'll do...now move it wife."

She narrowed her eyes at him but a smile was playing on her lips as she stood. "You're getting way too into this Meade." She laughed as she passed him.

Wilhelmina made it to the front door first and opened it, coming face to face with Officer Richards. "Hello you two love birds." He smiled cheerily and lowered the hand that was poised to knock.

Daniel rushed up behind Willie. "What are you doing here? I thought you weren't due again 'til next week?" A sudden realisation hit him. "Oh my God, did you catch him? Is it over? Can we go home already?"

The smiling man laughed, " 'Fraid not folks. No news on that front as of yet."

"So why are you here?" Willie asked him.

"Some of the guys from NY shipped this stuff down to me this afternoon; one of your colleagues said it was of the upmost importance that you get it. This little haven's on my way so I thought...why not...can't hurt to see a pretty face." He smiled at Willie.

"Are you flirting with my fake wife?" Daniel scoffed.

"Merely stating a fact." He grinned and pulled a large bag from the side of the door. He held it out to Wilhelmina. "For you."

Wilhelmina took the bag with a confused look. "Anything for me?" Daniel asked hopefully.

The officer pretended to pat himself down. "Your Mom and eh...Betsy? send their best. G'night!" He turned and left Daniel glaring at his back. Wilhelmina looked in the bag and gasped.

"I love that boy!"

Daniel peered into the bag over her shoulder and groaned. "We're gonna be late aren't we?"

XX

They hadn't been as late as Daniel had anticipated, Wilhelmina had merely changed into a different pair of stilettos from the bag Marc had stuffed with shoes, belts, jewellery and other accessories; no clothes, but she could live with that. She could make anything look good with the right accessories and Daniel had to admit that she was now in the best mood she had been in since this little escapade began.

"Should we have brought something?" He asked as they walked across the street.

"Huh?" She answered, not listening, too busy admiring the white Manolos Marc had provided her. That boy was a godsend, she needed to remember and let him buy himself something from her when she got back.

"In some cultures it's customary to bring a gift to someone's house." He repeated, sarcastically for her benefit.

She shrugged. "I'm coming, what could I bring them that's better than that?"

A million things came to his mind but he bit them all back when a familiar couple emerged from the side gate of the house they were heading to.

"There you are!"

It was getting harder to force a smile on their faces as the busybody hosts came towards them; Helen bustling and Howard dragging his feet behind her. "I was just saying to Howard, I wonder where our new neighbours are, maybe we should send someone round, wasn't I Howard?"

"Yes dear."

"Now you two get your heiny's in there. The whole neighbourhood's just dying to meet you, aren't they Howard?"

"Yes dear."

They hurried back inside and left the gate open for Daniel and Willie to follow, they both stopped and took a deep breath.

"This is going to suck isn't it?" Willie asked. They both laughed at Daniel's monotonous reply.

"Yes dear."

XX

After an hour of repeating the words 'eight years' and 'no kids' to what felt like a hundred people, they found themselves cornered in the back of the large garden with two couples whose names they couldn't remember nor cared about. Both Daniel and Wilhelmina thought that living in the public eye in New York was prying enough, nothing could prepare them for the unrelenting curiosity of the suburbs.

"So, trouble in paradise already?" One of the women asked.

"How do you mean?" Daniel responded.

"Well." She began, laughing lightly running a hand around the wine glass she held. "We don't mean to pry, but Helen over there was telling me that when she came over to visit you on your very first morning here...you were sleeping on the couch." She pointed at Daniel, waggling her brows.

"Oh that." He chuckled ad he tried to think of an excuse when all he really wanted to do was snap at the woman to mind her own damn business.

Willie pressed a hand to his chest. "Poor dear did himself an injury. His back gave out when he was packing our stuff and our bed's just too soft for him." She smiled at the nosey woman but Daniel could see the desire to scratch her eyes out behind that fixed grin.

"Where did you two move from anyway?"

"Washington." Daniel answered.

"Michigan." She replied at the same time. The two of them looked at each other. "We..uh...we move around a lot...for D..BOB's work." Willie covered. "Excuse me I need a refill." She made a show of squeezing Daniel's bicep as she moved away from them.

"Oh we'll join you!"One woman squealed and she and the other female in the party walked after her. Daniel hid a smirk when he saw the annoyance flash over Willie's face.

Once the women were out of earshot one of the men leaned into Daniel. "Bad back my eye. I do believe that's a wife's staple excuse for 'My huband's being an ass so he aint gettin' none of mine.' Am I right?" He laughed at his own joke and Daniel found himself hating the suburbs more with each passing minute.

Daniel looked at Willie standing at the table in the distance refilling her glass and bit back a smile. Yes, he had agreed he would get on with her, that didn't mean he couldn't have a little fun. "You wanna know the truth?" He leaned in, fixing each of them with a stare.

They both leaned into him, furtively looking around to make sure their wives were indeed gone. "Sometimes, I just have to sleep alone...if I actually wanna sleep. She's insatiable."

"She's too much for me..." He continued off their raised eyebrows and whispered, "_physically._"

The two men leaned back and looked over to Wilhelmina and tilted their heads. "Wait a minute..." one of them started. "You're tellin' us you'd rather sleep on a lumpy couch than have sex with _her_?"

Daniel sucked on his teeth. "Hey, a guy's gotta sleep sometime. Look I shouldn't be tellin' you guys this but we have kinda what you would call a...modern marriage, controversial you might say."

The other man leaned in. "You mean like..." He looked around him again, "...open?"

"If that's what you wanna call it, and she doesn't care if they're young or old, rich or poor, fat or thin, married or single, she can't get enough. It hurts, sure, but it's the price I pay to be her husband." The struggle not to laugh was causing him physical pain.

"But it goes both ways right? So you get to sleep with who you want and come home every night to that! You're a lucky SOB, you know that?" The first man said, sighing at the sight of his own dowdy wife tucking into yet another chicken leg.

Daniel looked over to where all the women stood and grinned. "I suppose you could say that."

Thirty minutes later, after the tenth subtle ass grab in as many minutes from varying men at the party, Wilhelmina found Daniel standing laughing, leaning against the fence. "You wanna tell me why all of a sudden I'm the slut of suburbia!"

He laughed louder. "I'm sorry, I'm sorry, it was too good to pass up."

She took the beer from his hands and took a sip, his eyes widened at the intimate gesture as she handed it back, but it went unnoticed by Wilhelmina. She shrugged, "They all just think you're a pussy for not being able to keep up." She laughed. "Besides, I've been telling them all night that the reason we don't have kids is you have an un-descended testicle."

Daniel spluttered the mouthful of beer he had just taken. "The over sexed hussy and the infertile wuss...wow, what a couple." He laughed.

"I hate how fucking nosey these simpletons are."

"I know, that was close earlier with the moving thing."

"We need to work on a back story more detailed than eight years, no kids." She nodded, agreeing.

"But how do we stop the questions until we get our stories straight?" Daniel wondered aloud.

Wilhelmina smirked, biting her lip. "I've always found making people uncomfortable shuts them right the hell up."

"What do you mean?"

She slipped her arm around his waist as she saw yet another prying couple coming towards them. "Follow my lead." She told him quietly as his arm went round her shoulders.

"Well I don't believe we've had the pleasure yet." The man approaching them began, extending his hand for them to shake. "Bill Michaels and this is my wife Trina."

"Bob and Leigh Johnson." Daniel smiled, shaking the hand.

"Oh we know who you are honey." The woman introduced as Trina told them. "The whole party's positively buzzing about you two and your...you know."

Daniel dipped his head. "Oh...that, that was a stupid joke that got out of hand, we-"

"You don't need to explain yourself to me honey, I applaud it. People do what it takes to make their marriage work. So come on...tell me all about this _perfect marriage _of yours."

Here it comes, the relentless barrage of questions from people with nothing better to do than gossip. Before Daniel had a chance to answer, Wilhelmina spoke up; "Oh no, it's far from perfect...there's been big wrongs on both sides."

"Really?" The woman's eyes lit up, hungry for a tid-bit of information from the strangers. "Like what?"

Willie shrugged. "He fucked my sister."

"Oh."

"She screwed my dad." Daniel answered, catching on instantly to Willie's game.

"Oh."

Willie and Daniel smiled back at them, arms still around each other as if they had shared nothing strange. Trina and her husband looked at each other and then back to the new neighbours. "Okay then!" she trilled, far too brightly, eyes bulging and a fake smile. "Well...bye!"

She turned swiftly, grabbing her husband's hand as she did so and dragging him away. They could hear her muttering to him as they departed. Wilhelmina and Daniel looked at each other from the corner of their eyes and laughed as soon as they caught contact with the other.

"That was fun." Daniel admitted.

"It's good to play dirty once and a while."

"Once and a while? Really Willie?"

"It's Leigh, jackass." She was still on a high from the looks on the faces of the couple and she smiled wider as she saw the same looks spread amongst the crowd as the story was shared. She snorted in amusement when she heard a loud laugh, followed by an, 'I love those two,' which she located Jesse as the source of.

"You think we've scarred the good people of Connecticut enough for one night?" Daniel asked, aware he was actually having fun.

"Yeah, I suppose, we can't shock them, tonight, anymore than we already have; the thrill is gone for now."

Daniel placed a little pressure with the arm around her neck, making her walk with him; her arm still around his waist as she did. The remaining people in the garden stood to watch them pass, all giving them a wide berth, except for Jesse who waved enthusiastically and a few men who still leered hopefully after Willie thanks to Daniel's earlier comments.

Once they were firmly outside the gate Daniel allowed himself to properly laugh as they walked across the street; back to the house.

"You know I think we can drop the act now...and the arms." Willie spoke through his laughter.

"They might still be watching, don't want to spring apart the moment we're out of sight do we?" He looked down and smiled at her puzzled expression.

"Just in case."


	6. Chapter 6

Their plan may have worked too well, for the next four days after the barbecue not a single neighbour came near them, the only contact had been an early morning visit the next day from Jesse to tell them that he and James were going out of town for the next few days and to thank them for giving him the best entertainment he'd had since moving to the sorry street.

But without the distraction of neighbours and being cut off from everyone else in their lives, the boredom was quickly starting to set in. With only each other for company, the conversation had at first been forced and stilted, but they soon had no choice but to relax in each other's presence.

"I'm so BORED!" Daniel groaned and pulled a cushion up to his face, groaning into it.

"For the seventieth time, I know!"

Daniel dropped the pillow from his face and looked at Wilhelmina who was sat on the opposite armchair with her legs tucked underneath her. Seeing her in such a relaxed pose was now customary to Daniel. "I'm sorry, I know I'm like a broken record but there's nothing to do!"

"So you thought you'd revert to your speciality of whining?"

"Why not, you never really gave up your speciality of being bitchy did you?"

She raised her eyebrows at him and smirked, a look which he returned. "There MUST be something around here we can do, if I have to spend another day in front of the television watching bad game shows and Barbara fucking Walters I swear I'll end it all," Daniel said in all seriousness.

"Don't let me stop you." Willie turned her gaze to the magazine in her hand, not even reading the words on the page, she had read it cover to cover already and there were no other reading materials in the house. She sighed abruptly and closed the magazine on her lap, turning her gaze to Daniel's sullen face. "I suppose...we could go out."

"Where?" He shrugged, "There's next to nothing in this town and as much as I'm enjoying the fact that we're getting along, I don't think we're quite at the hand holding strolls through the park, do you?" he offered, facetiously.

"Okay, smart ass, you stay here and sulk. I'm going out." She stood from the chair and Daniel watched her rise. Yet again, it struck him how he thought he had known Wilhelmina, but had clearly been wrong. The woman he thought he knew would never have entertained the prospect of leaving the house in the attire she was currently wearing: still in denims, with a loose white shirt over them, or with so little make up and her hair pulled back in a hasty ponytail, coming down in curls at her back.

"Where are you going?" he asked her.

She picked up the car keys and faced him again, every time she looked at him she had to fight the urge to laugh at the wardrobe which had been assigned to him. He looked exactly how he should: a middle-aged accountant. "There's still some cash left, plus we had the drop off yesterday of our oh-so-extravagant hundred dollar allowance. You've eaten practically everything in the cupboards and we're out of alcohol...which trust me, I sorely need. And Mode's out today, I want to get a copy so I can make sure they haven't screwed everything up back at the office. This issue was pretty much put to bed when we left so it should be okay...it's the next one we have to worry about, but hopefully we'll be home and this will all be a distant memory by then."

Daniel brightened slightly, he had forgotten they had cash to spend. "Can I come this time?"

"If it will shut you up and stop your incessant whining, I'll even let you drive." She dangled the keys from her fingertips and he hurriedly jumped up and snatched them before she could change her mind.

xXx

"Okay issue number one without Daniel and Willie has officially hit the stands! No bitchy calls from SSP at Fashion Buzz so I think we pulled it off." Marc grinned and leaned back in the chair behind Wilhelmina's desk, his hands behind his head.

"SSP?" Betty questioned.

Marc rolled his eyes. "Suzuki St Pierre, learn your acronyms!" He pushed himself forward to where she was perched on the desk and flicked her forehead.

"OW!" She rubbed the sore spot. "Marc I don't think we have that much to be proud of yet. Wilhelmina and Daniel had nearly a full book of content when they left, all we had to add was a couple of extra ad placements and trim the Mode girl on Madison piece...it's next month I'm terrified about. What if people can tell it's not Daniel and Wilhelmina's voices? What if it bombs? What if the competition figures out they're M.I.A? What if..."

Marc rolled his eyes and fished in his pocket for something, then threw the shiny object at Betty. She caught it and held it up in front of her face; his inhaler. "I think you need this more than me Miss Hissy-fit...just don't get any of your guacamole germs on it. And anyway, I totally know how to inject Willie's voice into the magazine and if we whine about a couple of things, I'm sure we can imitate Daniel's too." Betty rolled her eyes and threw the inhaler back at his smirking face.

"So this is where you two have been hiding." Amanda trilled as she flounced into the office, one hand on her hip and the other swinging exaggeratedly in front of her as she walked.

Betty squinted her eyes and looked upwards, in thought. "How can we hide in a glass office?"

"Good question. How can you come to work dressed like that when you can see your reflection in every wall?" Amanda shot back.

"Oooh, quick!" Marc applauded her.

Amanda smiled and gave him a mock curtsey. "Anyway, Claire's all up in my pooch about you guys, you have a meeting with her in like..." She checked her watch. "Thirty minutes ago."

Marc and Betty both stood abruptly. "WHAT!" They screeched in unison.

"What I told you both at lunch."

"Amanda we haven't had lunch yet, it's ten thirty!" Betty admonished her.

Amanda flapped her hand at them as she walked from the room. "What ev's, she's in the penthouse."

xXx

"How do people do this regularly, I can honestly say I have never experienced anything more soul destroying." Willie complained as she walked, slumped over, pushing the cart down the aisles of the market.

"Come on, you've never done this?" Daniel asked her, walking in front of her, placing items in the cart behind him. For every two items he put in, Willie would take one out and shove it back on the shelf without him noticing.

"Nope, unless you count going into D'Agostino's and getting one of the clerks to run and fetch me anything I might need."

Daniel chuckled. "No...I don't think that counts. I used to love doing my own stuff when I was in college."

"I think we need food with a bit more substance than whatever you and your bimbo for the night would grab when you went on your run for midnight munchies."

He turned round to face her and almost caught her secreting a bag of chips back on the shelf. "Food with substance? So you DO eat." He smirked.

Willie rolled her eyes at him. "Of course I eat Daniel...I just don't stuff myself like you do. I eat what I need and no more." They rounded the corner and Daniel grabbed two tubs of salsa for the chips that were no longer in the cart. Willie bit the inside of her cheek and swiftly placed them back on the shelf when he turned back around.

"So what do you want?" He asked her.

She shrugged. "I don't know...actually that's a lie, I want caviar and I want Jean Cristoffe's speciality oysters...but I guess pre packaged salad and processed chicken is just as good...yum." She deadpanned.

"There must be some normal food you like." He threw twinkies over his shoulder and heard them land in the cart. "Don't put them back." He said without turning round. "I'm onto you...and I'm picking more chips up before we leave." He smiled to himself.

Behind him, Willie narrowed her eyes in annoyance. "You'll be fat before we leave here you know."

Daniel stuck his hand into one of the candy containers they passed and pulled out a couple of chocolate malt balls and popped them into his mouth as they walked. "I eat this stuff at home all the time."

"Uh-huh, but at home you have a gym membership, a gym in the office and other...activities to keep all that crap from going straight to your love-handles."

H e shrugged. "I'll go jogging."

"Oh yes, because you've been so motivated so far, the daily jog from the couch to the fridge and back is working wonders, truly."

He stopped and turned to her, giving her a stupid look. "Well I suppose I could always go out and meet someone to help me work out."

Wilhelmina couldn't miss the inflection of his words. "Married for under two weeks and cheating already...I'm devastated."

"You're the one whoring it up with half the town allegedly," he joked.

"Only because your balls don't work sweetheart," Willie shot back before copying him and stealing a couple of the chocolate candies.

"You just ate chocolate!" He pointed at her, wide eyed.

"I'm sublimating my sex drive." She popped another in her mouth. "And will you stop being so hung up on what I eat?"

Daniel leaned on the shelf, stopping her from moving forward and grinned at her. "Chocolate instead of sex huh? My my...who would have thought Wilhelmina Slater would be so cliché?"

"And who would of thought you would have been stupid enough to say my real name while we're out in the town when we're supposed to be hiding." She hissed, under her breath.

Daniel grimaced. "Sorry...forgot."

She leaned further over the cart, eating another candy. "How long do you suppose they'll keep us here for?"

Daniel shook his head, noncommittally. "I read a case once where this whole family were in witness protection for three years while they waited on a case to come to trial."

"Three years?" She repeated, robotically.

Daniel nodded and Wilhelmina swept a hand across the shelf, emptying it of chocolate bars, into the trolley. Daniel burst out laughing at her actions and walked into the next aisle. He scrunched up his face at the assortment of cleaning products in front of him and the various detergents on the shelf. "I suppose we should get some of this."

"You suppose right, you've been wearing the same clothes for three days...don't think I didn't notice."

"I refuse to wear plaid."

"Please convince Betty of the same."

He snickered and picked up a tub of detergent. "You even know how to work the machine?"

She stopped pushing the trolley. "And why do you assume I'll be the one doing it?"

"Well, you're the...never mind" He shut up quickly when he saw the light flash in her eyes.

"If you were about to say 'I'm the woman' you'll be wearing that detergent." She shoved the trolley hard, into him. "You go pay for this, I'm going to the counter to pick up Mode."

Daniel rubbed the spot on his hip where the cart had struck him and made his way to the check out, watching her walk away from him.

Once he had paid for, and packed without any assistance from Willie, the groceries, he walked to the front of the store and found her leaning against the door, flicking through Mode. "How ridiculous is it that I just paid for a copy of my own god damn magazine?" She asked him, without looking up.

"How is it?" He tried to snatch it from her but she held tight.

"You can have it when I'm done...it's all fine, we, sorry I, had done most of the legwork before we left, like I said."

He nodded. "So next month's the real test? God, I hope they pull it off." He tried to hand her some of the bags, to ease his burden. She looked at him quizzically before walking away carrying only the copy of Mode.

Daniel rolled his eyes and followed. "So...Liquor store?"

She nodded at him and he made his way towards the car. Wilhelmina rolled up the copy of Mode and opened her purse, she nestled it on top of the other item she had purchased while Daniel's back had been turned.

A cell phone.

xXx

"We're sorry, we're sorry, Amanda seems to think telling someone something in her head is the same as _actually _telling them." Betty started apologising before she was even fully in the office.

Claire smiled warmly at her: if it had been any other Editor who was tardy for a meeting she would more than likely have reprimanded them, but she found it hard to scold the young woman she and her son had become so close to. "Not to worry, you're here now. Take a seat, both of you."

Marc and Betty sat down opposite Claire, they both felt small and insignificant in the vast space of the penthouse office. The room still screamed of Bradford Meade, even now; over two years since his death. Although Alexis had used the office briefly when she had been in charge, she had preferred to spend her time in the Mode offices and since Daniel and Wilhelmina had gained control, neither of them had taken residency in the imposing room; although they expected that was less to do with feeling Bradford's presence and more to do with the fact that both were worried of what the other might do in Mode whilst there back was turned.

Claire, however, looked positively relaxed as she sat in her husband's place. She reached beneath the desk and pulled out two items, a copy of this month's Mode and the book with the mock up of next month's issue. She placed the glossy magazine on top of the book and folded her hands over them. She smiled at them both, proud of how they were handling themselves under the pressure. They may only be junior editors but they were tackling the insurmountable task before them with gusto Daniel and Wilhelmina would be proud of.

She slid her hands back and picked up the newly released issue of Mode. Wordlessly, she skimmed the pages of the publication until she came to the Mode girl on Madison piece. Her silence was unnerving both Marc and Betty, the usually amiable woman before them seemed suddenly more formidable to them than ever. "Who edited this piece?" Claire asked quietly, not looking at them and an unreadable expression on her face.

Marc cleared his throat. "I did," he offered meekly, unsure if he wanted to admit to it at all.

Claire looked up at him surprised. "You did?" She arched her brow and closed the magazine. "I admit, I thought it would have been Betty."

"Well she did proof it for me and trim a little something herself."

Claire stared them both down for a couple of seconds before allowing herself a smile. "In that case, well done, both of you."

The pair visibly relaxed. "Now don't get too complacent." Claire pulled the mock up from underneath the magazine and opened it with a thud. "Next month's issue is sparse to say the least. We have the centre spread covered thanks to the Valentino gowns you recovered, Marc; you're in charge of the shoot. Daniel and Wilhelmina completed the cover when they were downtown." She fell silent for a moment as she thought of the predicament that had presented itself shortly after the shoot.

Marc and Betty looked sideways at each other but snapped their gazes back to Claire when she cleared her throat. "Now I understand we lost our interview? I realise it was for the greater good but it leaves us in a quandary, if Isabella have Meryl Streep, we are going to need an equally big name; I'm talking Aniston, Pitt or Jolie big."

Betty swallowed, aware that it was her task to secure the interviewee, she didn't know how she would do it, but she hadn't shirked from a challenge yet. "I'm on it." She nodded, curtly.

Claire continued. "Now Marc, you and I will be meeting with reps from design houses over the next week to decide which pieces to showcase. Our 'real life piece' I can sort out, I'll have some ex-con tell us how she turned her life around, Wilhelmina will hate that." She smirked. "Now with ad's and our regular features such as Mode girl, and quick and easy tips. We have pretty much everything covered...with the exception of one thing, and I must say, it creates a problem."

"What is it?" Betty asked.

Claire inhaled deeply and leaned back in the chair, drumming her nails on the desk, and fixed Marc with a stare. "It's Wilhelmina's turn."

Marc paled. "Oh God." He brought his hand to his forehead as his head slumped on his chest. Betty looked between the two of them in confusion. "Wilhelmina's turn...what?"

Marc spun his head around. "The letter from the Editor."

Betty shrugged. "So? You said yourself, you can _inject_ Wilhelmina's voice into the magazine, can't you just write it and-"

Marc sat bolt upright in the chair. "NO! Sure I can throw in a couple of scathing remarks throughout the articles but _this..._this is Willie's letter we're talking about. You've read them, there's no way I can pull it off. Plus, even if I could, no doubt whatever I said she would say the opposite, even if she agreed, just to spite me. And we're back to Willie hunting me down the second she gets outta there." He slumped back and took a deep sucking breath.

"But under the circumstances, I'm sure she'd understand you did the best you could."

Marc shook his head and laughed. "After almost four years...you do know Wilhelmina Slater, right?"

Betty looked to Claire for validation but the older woman merely smirked, in obvious agreement with Marc. "Look we have just over three weeks until we absolutely must have the letter. Let's worry about that bridge when we come to it and focus on the rest of the issue until then."

Betty and Marc both nodded, feeling much heavier than they had when they came in.

xXx

"What the..." Daniel smacked the top of the washing machine as it made an ungodly sound and shook violently underneath the counter in the small utility room. "...hell?" It continued to rumble and Daniel kept up his futile tactic of hitting it into submission. "Stop it!" He hissed at the inanimate object. He was quickly regretting deciding to do the laundry, having only deciding to do so after the comment he almost made at the market.

The machine suddenly whirred as if it was about to take off and the shuddering increased violently; the appliance now bouncing off the ground. "Shit...mother of...STOP!" He grasped onto the top of it and tried to hold it fast to the ground. All this did was cause a horrendous gurgling noise, he looked down just as torrents of water, thick with soap suds, spewed out the seal around the door.

His eyes widened as his feet instantly began slipping in the soapy mess. "Fuck, fuckity fuck fuck fuck! WHY ARE YOU DOING THIS!" He hit the stop button repeatedly to no avail. "WILLIE!" He bellowed for her, over the cacophony of the machine. After ten or so seconds, with no reply and ever increasing amounts of water splurging from the machine, he tried again. "WILHELMINA!"

"What?" Came the exasperated voice in the background.

Daniel craned his neck to peer out the door, into the kitchen, and saw her saunter into the room, her nose buried in Mode and a half eaten bar of chocolate in her hand, oblivious to his predicament.

"You think you could give me a hand!" He snapped at her. She unwillingly tore her gaze away from her bible and looked at him. Quite possibly the most genuine smile he had ever seen on her sprung to her face as she took in the sight of him. "It's not funny!"

Willie walked to the edge of the counter, directly opposite the opening to the utility room, and hopped up on the counter. "Oh it is." She grinned widely, taking another bite of chocolate and crossing her legs, amused beyond the telling of it.

"Damn it Willie!"

"What do you want me to do exactly?" She shrugged, bordering on laughter.

"I don't know, make it stop!" As he spoke those words, the machine gave one last shudder and emitted a loud bang, ceasing all movement.

"Problem solved." Willie sounded almost disappointed.

Daniel took a tentative step back and glared at the damned machine. In annoyance, he gave it a swift kick; _bad move_, the door sprung open and whatever water remained inside poured out around Daniel's ankles. This time, Wilhelmina gave into the laughter she had fought to conceal.

Daniel glared at her. "How did I know the one of the first times I would see you laugh, it would be at my expense?" he said, dryly.

He went to step out of the small room, the second his foot hit the floor he felt the sliminess of the detergent underneath him. His foot slipped out from under him and the rest of him swiftly followed as he landed on his back with a sound mixed between a thud and a splash. From his position on the ground he could just make out Willie clamping a hand to her mouth and he swore he heard an actual snort of laughter.

Daniel attempted to stand himself up and straight away fell back down in a sodden heap. Time after time his hands and feet refused to support him and he remained stuck on the wet floor. "You pick now to develop a sense of humour?" He shot at Wilhelmina. "Help me!"

She tilted her head, contemplating it. "That's the second time tonight you've asked for my help Meade." She jumped from the counter and walked to the door. Placing one hand on the door frame to brace herself she extended the other to Daniel.

He reached up and grabbed hold of it and she began pulling him up, just as his torso lifted from the sloshing mess, she let go and he crashed back down. "Oops." She smiled as he glared at her, annoyed at her amusement. She bit back another surge of laughter and extended her hand again. "This time, I promise."

He swung his hand up to grasp hers again, and again she used all her strength to try and pull him. Daniel, for his part, gave a sharp tug on her arm and she lost her balance and crashed down onto him. "That's what I think of your promises." He smirked.

"Asshole!" She pounded him on the chest and tried to stand, on the first attempt she again slid back down, this time hitting the floor and becoming almost as covered as him in the soapy mess. On her second attempt she fared better and used the door frame to leverage herself out of the mess. She turned round, thoroughly soaked and kicked the sole of his shoe before bending down and grabbing him by the ankles, dragging him from his watery trap.

Finally on dry ground he pulled himself to his feet and they stood looking at each other. Silently they looked each other up and down, suddenly they saw themselves as any other outsiders would see them. Normally pristine and well groomed, now dishevelled and soaked from head to toe, in a first for both of them, they burst into shared laughter.

"I'll get cleaned up...you get all the awful things you refuse to wear and use it to soak up this mess." Willie turned to leave the room and Daniel smiled at the squelching sounds her shoes made on the floor.

"Willie?" She stopped and faced him. "Are you eating tonight? I was gonna attempt to cook."

She smirked. "I think you've had enough run-ins with kitchen appliances tonight. Plus, you've already tried to drown me, I don't think I could take that and food poisoning in one night."

"Well what then? Are _you_ gonna cook?" He asked, with his eyebrows arched.

She scoffed. "Dear God no...I've still got that meal I scammed out that restaurant. The number is in the drawer, see if they deliver."

Daniel walked to the kitchen drawers and opened them, locating the number. "What do you want?" He shouted after her, hearing her make her way out the kitchen.

"Something expensive!"

xXx

"Oh my God, I'd forgotten what good food tasted like." Willie said, satisfied as she dropped the fork on her plate, two hours later. They sat at the table inside the kitchen, with the French doors open to relieve the stifling heat in the room and help dry the mess Daniel made with the laundry.

"Mmm Hmm" Daniel agreed through a mouthful of food as he used his fork to spear her leftover steak and move it to his own plate. "Shame the said can't be said for the wine we picked up," he mumbled.

Willie snickered then grimaced as she took another sip from the glass, choking on the acrid taste. "Well you would try and save money, I told you ten dollars for a GALLON was never gonna be a good thing."

He laughed around a mouthful of the steak he had stolen. "You know how you get it to taste better?" He asked.

"How?"

He picked up the gigantic jug and poured it into her goblet. "Drink more." He topped up his own glass then clinked it against hers before taking a large gulp. "God...that's disgusting." He laughed, but it didn't put him off taking another slug from the glass.

When he put the glass down, he became aware of Wilhelmina staring at his profile. "What?" he asked, her, moving to meet her quizzical stare.

She pursed her lips. "I'm forgetting how to hate you."

Daniel's eyes widened and he sat back in the chair. "Wow...and all it took was three and a half years of fighting, witnessing a murder and then being forced to live together as man and wife by the government...who knew it would be so easy?" He joked and they both laughed lightly, taking bigger mouthfuls from the cheap ass wine that was starting to taste palatable.

"Seriously though...you think it'll last? Us getting along I mean. You think we'll manage it when we're back at work?"

She shrugged. "Who knows, probably not. You'll have your Mommy to remind you what a monster I am and no doubt you'll do something to piss me off within an hour of us getting back."

"An hour? It's getting shorter." He grinned.

"I'm being generous." She smiled back, leaning over the table to open the last package on the table, containing a chocolate cake large enough for four people. She slid it towards her and picked up 2 forks, passing one to Daniel and taking a chunk out the side with her own.

He laughed. "How much chocolate is that now?"

"Shut up." She took a bite and let her eyes roll back in her head.

"How's the substitute working out for you?" He teased her.

"Leave me alone, you think I haven't noticed the handful of candy bars you pigged out on earlier?" She joked back. "Don't pretend that the man whore isn't hard up."

He watched her stab the dessert in front of her, playing with the food on the plate. He was pretty damn sure that this was a sight he would not be met with once they got back to their lives. It was a pity, he could learn to like this woman, if she would only let her come out more often. He had seen her be funny, sociable and even thoughtful, to a certain extent. Once you took away the fight and the ambition he could see what his one time friend Connor had seen.

"You know..." He looked away and busied himself with a forkful of cake. "There is an obvious solution."

She chuckled, still engrossed in the plate before her. "Oh yeah that's right, our _open_ marriage."

"Actually...more obvious than that." He couldn't look at her.

Wilhelmina slowly turned her head to face him. "Say what now?"

Clearing his throat, and with real effort, he looked at her. He nodded his head towards her and then tilted it back, indicating himself. She let her jaw slacken slightly, huffing out an incredulous laugh. "You're not serious, are you after a repeat of what I did to you in the elevator?"

"More like...what I did to you."

Her eyes were wide and she began to look vaguely around the room, searching for something to focus on except what she was hearing. "I'm cutting you off." She moved the alcohol away from him.

"I mean...out here, it's just us, but not _us _us. Who would ever know? Plus..." He smirked, enjoying that he was aggravating her, no matter the outcome. "...we _are _ married."

Wilhelmina shot him a look and stood abruptly, the scraping of the chair echoing in the sudden stillness of the room. She pushed herself away from the table and slammed her napkin down on the surface. Daniel rolled his eyes. "C'mon Willie I was joking...it was a joke." He tried to convince her, and himself.

Instead of storming from the room, she walked to the French doors and slid them closed, turning to lean her back against them once she heard them click shut. Daniel screwed up his face. "What are you doing?" he asked, stupidly and she smirked at him. He had seen many smirks and sneers on her face, but never this particular one. He felt himself growing nervous as it widened on her face.

"Well, we don't want the neighbours to hear us, do we?"


	7. Chapter 7

_N.B – Please notice rating change_

_Authors note after chapter._

xXx

Willie remained standing with her back pressed against the cool glass of the door. Daniel was, as always, an open book, doing nothing to conceal the thoughts rushing through his mind as his face went through a variety of contortions. He fixed his eyes on her and she tilted her head, staring at him, impassively. Daniel tried to read her; _was she serious? Was she joking? If she was serious then she was fucking insane, if she was joking it was a hell of a cruel joke._

"Very funny." He eventually managed to choke out.

Wilhelmina shrugged. "Am I laughing?"

"No...but you're still joking right?" His bravado was beginning to slip.

"You suggested it Danny Boy...don't say you haven't thought about it. If I had given you the green light the last time you kissed me, you would have had me up against the wall of that elevator in a heartbeat; well...I'm giving you the green light."

"Why do I have the feeling I'm about to fall into a patented Slater trap?"

"Fine." She pushed herself from the door. "Waste time with your little worries, but your one chance is slipping away." She smirked. "Like you said...who's gonna know?"

Daniel caught the glint in her eye and figured one of two things; one, she wasn't joking or two, she was playing him, daring him to see who would back down first. He drained his glass and stood up, feeling a slight head rush from the combination of alcohol and humidity in the room. Placing the glass down, he walked over to her slowly and stopped before her, smirking. He leaned forward a fraction until he was eye to eye with her. "Alright."

The self assuredness on her face faltered slightly with that word but she composed herself so quickly she doubted he would notice. She arched her eyebrows, challenging him and he took the challenge willingly, taking her by surprise as he crashed his lips on hers. The abruptness of the movement causing her to widen her eyes in shock as it had the first time he had kissed her. After only a second or two he pulled back and checked her eyes for any sign of hesitation.

"You're stopping why?" She questioned him in that damn snappish tone he hated, he would just have to shut her up.

"Upstairs."

She chuckled. "Well check you out, trying to be all masterful." She tried to lean around him to pick up her own glass, but he grabbed her upper arms and pushed himself against her. She looked up, alarmed when she felt the pressure against her thigh and he brought his lips to hers again, kissing her deeper and longer than before. Pulling her lip into his mouth and holding her tight at the hips. When he pulled away from her this time, he kept the hold on her body and his face remained close to hers, foreheads almost touching. "I said upstairs." He growled, his eyes closed.

Willie felt her heart quicken and the heat rush to her cheeks, she swallowed, nodding against him and lightly pushed him from her. As she walked to the door she could feel Daniel's eyes on her and it unnerved her how quickly he had gained the upper hand. He wasn't supposed to be the forceful one; that was her role, always was. He was supposed to be malleable, bend to her will and disappear when she was done.

She pushed the door open, not turning to look at him but she felt him behind her as his arms rested on her hips from behind and he pulled her back into him, his mouth attaching to the soft skin on her neck. The simple move made her bite back her first moan. Daniel increased the pressure of his pelvis into her back and she started climbing the stairs, Daniel still against her every step of the way. Their footsteps were slow and deliberate on the stairs. Once they reached the top, Willie gave an involuntary shudder when he swept her hair to one side and placed a kiss below her hairline.

Stopping at the door, she turned in his arms and looked in his eyes, this was the chance for either of them to stop it, to end what they were doing and chalk it up to frustration and booze. Daniel's hand went behind her and twisted the handle of the door, pushing it open. His hands went back to steadying her hips and he walked her backwards into the room.

Once inside the room, he moved his hands from her hips to bring them up to her head, releasing the clasp that held her hair and letting it fall around her shoulders. He pulled back and noted how the simple move softened her features. In the first time since he had kissed her in the kitchen, he moved away from her and turned to shut the door of the bedroom. When he turned round, she was a little over a meter away from him and the pair held each other's eyes intently.

The break in contact seemed to snap them back to reality with a jolt and it was as if the two of them remembered who they were and just who they had been caressing mere moments ago. The atmosphere in the room changed from one charged with hormones and lust to one of acute awkwardness.

The both fidgeted with their hands at their sides and glanced side long at the bed in the middle of the room. "So..." Daniel started.

"So..." She repeated.

Daniel cleared his throat and took a step forward, sure they could move past the temporary change in mood and recapture the feeling that had taken hold downstairs. He stopped after the one step, expecting her to make as much of an effort as him. Willie squared her shoulders and closed the gap, again they stilled, neither willing to make the first move to re-instigate contact.

With a deep breath they both moved at the same time, forcefully, resulting in the painful smacking together of foreheads. "Ow!" They rubbed the spots where their heads had collided. Daniel straightened again and placed his hands on her shoulders, pulling her in roughly to meet his lips. The force of the move, caught her off guard and she fell against him a little too enthusiastically and this time it was her teeth that clashed against his. "For the love of...is this your first time!" She snapped at him.

"Hey! Look...let's...let's just go slower okay, until we get the rhythm."

She rolled her eyes and huffed. "Fine."

Daniel nodded and this time his hands slowly travelled up her sides and he brought one hand to the nape of her neck, she let him draw her to him, not wanting to damage anymore of her face with their overzealousness. When his lips brushed over hers, she parted them and they lost themselves in the kiss. Willie's hands rested flat against his torso and he pushed tighter against her. When he felt her hands clench fistfuls of the fabric, Daniel lowered his hands to her thighs and lifted her from the ground, rubbing against her as he did so. Moving the short distance to the bed, he returned his lips to hers as they fell down upon it. As soon as she hit the mattress, she arched off it and moaned loudly against his lips.

"That good huh?" He grinned, pleased with himself when he reluctantly pulled his mouth away.

She pushed his shoulder. "NO! It's..." She twisted her body and reached a hand under her back and pulled out a belt with on oversized buckle which she had landed on, causing her to moan like she had. She threw it off the side of the bed and pulled him back down to her, sliding her foot up and down the fabric over his legs.

He tried to roll them on their sides, keeping the close contact of their bodies, squeezing her ass to bring her closer still. As they rolled, she stopped again, inhaling sharply. "Daniel...damn it...you're on my hair."

"Oh for God's sake." He hissed and slid from the bed, kneeling at the side and pulling her to a sitting position. Once their bodies were touching again her legs went either side of his and she crushed him to her as she locked them around him. Willie tilted her head back as his lips made trails on her neck and his hands began working on the fastenings of the shirt she wore. Willie tried to work the same movements on the shirt covering Daniel's body as he pulled hers down her shoulders and it lay discarded on the bed. He leaned back to give her more access to the garment he wore and his eyes were fixated on the swell of her breasts. Giving up on the ridiculously tiny buttons on his shirt, Willie gripped it and tugged, sending the buttons off in every direction.

Daniel suddenly howled and pulled away, dipping his head, with his hand clamped to his face. "What now!" Willie barked.

He pulled his hand away and she saw the redness in his watery eye. "Fucking button!" He admonished and blinked a couple of times, squinting in a highly un-sexy manner. "It's fine." He shrugged it off and moved back between her legs. Holding her arms he pushed her back until she was lying down again and popped the button on the jeans, sliding the zipper down hastily. "Jesus Christ did you sew yourself into these things?" He asked as he tried to pull down the unbelievably tight fabric.

He tugged them hard and they gave way in one move, unexpected by him and his hand flew off and he smacked himself in the face. Clenching his jaw and squeezing his eyes shut in irritation he stood up and pulled at the buckle of his belt, Willie sat up and eagerly pulled at the pants until they were around his ankles, Daniel reached down to pull them from his feet, hopping in his haste to remove them and ending up tangled in the fabric and falling backwards, flat on his ass.

He thumped his hand against the floor and dipped his head down, sighing. He looked up slowly, and raised his eyebrows at Willie, who was now sitting with a pillow clutched to her underwear clad body and smirking ruefully. She shook her head. "I think as signs go...this is a pretty clear indication that this is a bad idea."

He chuckled. "I think so...go any further and one of us will end up in the emergency room."

She nodded, biting her bottom lip as she smiled and he smiled back at her. "That's one way to break the tension huh?" Daniel added and stood up, suddenly all too aware that he was standing in only his boxers with a sizeable and painful bulge in full view of his semi-naked nemesis. He bundled his clothes together and held them in front of his body. Wilhelmina reached for the shirt he had pulled off her and slipped it back on, pulling it tight around her.

He stared at her. "This isn't going to make things...weird is it?"

"No more than usual." She answered with a small smile. "Goodnight Daniel."

Daniel pressed his lips together and backed away from the bed to the door, unwilling to turn and give her a view of his ass. He groped behind him and opened the door. "Goodnight."

He closed the door behind him and leaned his head back against it. He looked down at the handle of the door and bit his lip, contemplating the woman inside. His hand reached out and touched the cool metal and started to turn it.

_What the fuck am I doing? It's Wilhelmina for God's sake._

He snatched his hand back and walked down the stairs.

Inside the room, Wilhelmina had noticed the subtle turning of the doorknob and held her breath. For a couple of seconds she expected him to come back in and she didn't know what she would do if he did. She exhaled when she heard the footsteps going down the stairs and then fell back flat against the mattress. She rolled over and opened the drawer at the side of the bed and pulled out yet another bar of chocolate.

"Note to self: Get lipo when I get home."

xXx

Amanda pulled a carton of ice cream from the freezer and dumped it on the table between the two despairing friends sat around it. She handed them both spoons but before either could take a bite of the Double fudge swirl, she pulled it towards her and dug in with vigour. Betty and Marc rolled eyes and dropped their spoons to the table.

"Who the hell am I going to interview?" Betty moaned.

"How the hell am I going to get a letter from Willie?" Marc lamented.

"How the hell am I going to get chocolate fudge swirl out of satin?" Amanda looked down at the mess she had made in her lap.

Marc squinted his eyes at her. "Bigger problems Mandy!"

"THIS IS VINTAGE!" She shrieked at him, then shrugged and carried on eating.

Marc put his head in his hands and faked cried. "This is hopeless, we still have our own jobs to do, plus trying to be the new Daniel and Wilhelmina and-"

Marc stopped talking when he heard a snort of derisive laughter from Amanda. They both looked at her questioningly, she didn't look up as she continued scarping ice cream from the carton. "No offense sweetie, but you are no Daniel and Wilhelmina. I wouldn't sleep with either of you and if Willie ever heard you compare her to Betty she'd scalp your pretty little face."

Marc gave her an appalled look. "_I'm _Wilhelmina, she's Daniel."

Amanda looked from side to side at them both. "Okay, better...but you don't have that whole sexual tension bubbling under the surface."

"Anyway." Marc continued. "Just because they fight doesn't mean it's _tension_, they just fight Amanda."

"Keep telling yourself that."

Betty grunted. "GUYS! Can we focus please? Three weeks may seem like a lot of time but it really isn't. Not when we have our own stuff to do, Daniel and Wilhelmina's stuff to do AND constantly covering our backs covering up for their absence when they miss engagements." She turned to Marc. "Can't you ask the liaison officer to get the letter from Willie?"

Marc sighed and snatched the ice cream from Amanda. "I tried, he laughed me out on my ass. Nothing work related unless it's life or death he said...yet another person who clearly doesn't know Wilhelmina." He stabbed the ice cream with his spoon.

Betty seemed to deflate at the table and slumped her head against her hand. "Why did we think we could do this..?"

Amanda slammed her hands on the table. "Okay, man up you two! Do you realise what a opportunity you have here? Mess up and, yeah okay, you'll have an angry Wilhelmina on your hands but Claire and Daniel will totally have your backs...but get it right and this could open up so much more for you. Do you know what I would give for a bit of responsibility? Instead of just answering phones?"

Marc and Betty both looked at her, feeling guilty for their level of self pity. Amanda, however, wasn't aiming for a guilt trip, she just wanted them to see the chance they had in front of them. Also she wanted Marc to cheer up so she could get her damn ice cream back.

Betty nodded, resolute, and put a smile on her face. "You're right. We can totally do this. Marc you put together a full magazine for your Y.E.T.I. interview and I managed to pull my concept off in 48 hours. We saved our spread with the Halston dress, we re-did your application for fashion editor in one night. We can pull anything off if we put our minds to it and I know you're gonna find a way around this letter thing and I'm going to find someone to interview, I don't care if I need to fly to LA and camp outside some studios."

Amanda grabbed the ice cream back out of Marc's hands. "Or you could go through Daniel and Wilhelmina's rolodexes and find someone."

The two junior editors straightened in their chairs and widened their eyes at each other before turning to regard Amanda. Feeling their stares she looked up, the spoon piled with ice cream mid-way to her mouth. "What?" She brightened. "Did I say something clever? I knew I was due for something soon."

Marc grinned. "Yes you did." He ruffled her hair. "Why didn't we think of that?"

She shrugged. "Guess I'm the one with the brains."

"Now that is a truly horrifying thought."

The three friends all smiled at each other. Betty turned and looked out the window. "You know...I never really realised just how hard it was for them...for Daniel. I miss him." She said quietly, thinking of her friend.

Marc joined her, staring into the night sky. "I miss Willie."

Amanda looked between the two of them. "I miss Heath Ledger."

xXx

Sleep was never going to come, the room was too damn hot and she was too damn wound up. The clock read 2 am. Willie put her hands to her head and moaned, this house was in desperate need of central air. She told herself that is was only the heat keeping her awake, that and she was completely parched; the excessive intake of alcohol had dehydrated her.

She slid to the edge of the mattress and pulled herself up, slipping on the light cotton robe that hung over the end of the bed. Even the flimsy material felt like it was cooking her in this heat. With light steps she made her way to the door and turned the handle slowly. Out on the landing she crept towards the stairs and, as stealthily as possible, tip-toed down them. Ordinarily, she wouldn't have given a rat's ass about wakening Daniel, but she wasn't quite ready to face him after their earlier foray into unchartered territory.

At the bottom of the stairs now she craned her neck and peered into the darkness of the room and saw the lump on the couch, Daniel was obviously asleep. She released a breath and gently opened the kitchen door, she waited until the door was shut behind her to turn the light on, not wanting any to escape into the living room and wake him up. She turned round and switched on the light, jumping about a foot in the air in fright when it flickered on.

"DANIEL!" She brought her hand to her chest, feeling her heart beat rapidly. "You scared the crap outta me!"

Daniel was standing next to the island in the middle of the kitchen, a glass of water in his hands. "I thought you were on the couch." Willie exclaimed.

He opened his arms, gesturing himself and looked down. "Uhm...nope."

Wilhelmina opened the kitchen door and looked to the couch, now that the sliver of light was illuminating the room she could see that what she had thought was Daniel was actually the mass of covers and pillows. She let the door swing closed and walked to the fridge, pulling out a bottle of water and pouring it into a glass. Her movements were deliberate and taking longer than necessary, she could feel him watching her.

"Do we need to talk about this?" His voice was loud in the quiet of the room.

She shook her head, her back to him. "Nope."

Daniel nodded, even though she couldn't see him. Willie took a long drink from the water, letting it cool her. Re-filling the glass, she took it with her as she walked back to the kitchen door. "Well...goodnight." She started pushing the door.

"It's weird though." His voice halted her and she inclined her head to him. "We shoulda been good." He smirked.

Her eyes lingered on him for a second, her tongue probing at the inside of her cheek. Her eyebrows quirked and she nodded in response before walking through the door and letting in swing closed behind her.

Daniel looked at the door for a second, then returned his gaze to the glass in his hand and took a sip, as he felt the wetness touch his lips he was startled by the door swinging open again loudly. Their eyes met as she stood on the threshold, her hand holding the door open. At the same time the glasses were slammed on the counter and they each moved from their place. Meeting in the middle in an immediate clash of mouths.

There was no awkwardness this time, no mistimed moves on either part as they seemed to fit against each other with synchronicity. Daniel's hand held her head against his while the other came up to pull at the neck of her robe. His mouth left hers and moved to the skin he exposed, sucking and grazing teeth over her collarbone.

Willie's hands clawed at the base of his neck, urging him to increase the contact and she pushed her body hard against his. Pulling at his hair she brought his mouth back to hers and he groaned under the force of her kiss. He hastily undid the knot at the front of the robe and her hands moved from his body to let it fall from her shoulders. He grabbed her wrists and pulled her hands to his torso, missing the feel of her touching him.

Daniel moved his touch to the curve of her breasts and she moaned at the contact through the fabric of her bra, needing more from him. He tugged at one of the straps and moved his lips over her shoulder, they had barely even started and he was breathing erratically.

Moving to grab her hips, he pushed her backwards until she was leaning against the table. As she perched on the edge, her nails travelled down his abs until they met the hardness straining under his boxers. Daniel's body jerked at the contact and he brought his hands to her back, undoing the fastenings of her bra. When the garment fell out of sight he lowered his head and dragged his kisses over the flesh he had uncovered, she leaned back on the table slightly and he followed, hovering above her as he continued his unrelenting teasing.

She arched suddenly as he lightly bit down on her, creating friction between their lower bodies and Daniel groaned low in his throat. Wilhelmina grabbed the firm muscles of his ass and pressed him to her and he involuntarily rocked his pelvis against hers. Lifting his head, he brushed his lips over her jaw before she angled her head to kiss him again, the kisses increasing in intensity as they both reached the edge of their torture, needing to go further still.

Daniel felt the sharp tug at the side of his boxers as her hands tried to pull them down off his hips and his eyes closed when he felt himself release from them and her hand grasp him. It took restraint to stop him moving against her hand when she began running her grip down the length of him. She arched her own body up to meet his wandering touch and he pressed his fingers against her crudely, through the material of her underwear.

His head snaked down to the valley between her breasts, as his fingers hooked round the edges of her panties and began sliding them down her legs. Her hands left him and his body ached at the loss of the feeling. Moving back up her body, he positioned himself but she started pushing gently at his shoulders. Confusion and panic both swiftly set in as he thought she was trying to push him away, but her eyes were locked hungrily on his and he let himself be pushed back, understanding when his legs hits the back of the chair behind him.

Sitting down, she followed into his lap and manoeuvred until she was above him. Taking hold of him she guided him to her entrance, her other hand on his shoulder to steady her. Daniel's hips moved upward of their own accord and he slipped inside her as she sank down. The two of them stilled all movement, eyes holding each other; suddenly aware they had crossed some barrier they hadn't even known existed between them.

Daniel's body over-ruling his head, his pelvis gave a sharp thrust upwards, bringing them both back to the here and now with a collective gasp. The hand on his shoulder increased the pressure, nails pinching lightly into the skin as she began to move her body. Daniel held her hips tight and pulled her towards him each time she descended on him, his own body rising to meet her.

Her rocking movements increased in speed against his languid thrusts but they still managed to remain in simpatico with each other. One hand slid up her back, forcing her body against his, skin against skin and he could feel the light sweat building up on his torso; could feel her sliding against him. The hand on her hips pulled her to him more roughly with each upward motion of his body and he crashed his lips on hers again, every possible bit of their bodies working against each other.

Daniel felt the familiar tingling that told him he was on the edge and he brought his hand down and rubbed her hard with his thumb. Her head flew back and he watched her; her lips swollen and parted, hooded eyes looking back at him and watched the flush creep up her face as her walls closed in on him. He was mesmerised by the sight as she reached her climax, body arching away from his.

The sound of her voice crying out was enough to take him with her and with a last shuddering thrust he pulled her to him and held her down against him tight as he came.

His body till trembled as it tried to recover, his head pressed against her chest with his breath coming out in short bursts. He remained there, didn't want to look up and see the regret in her eyes. He knew from experience that what felt so right during the height of lust could feel so sordid in the instant the high had passed.

He couldn't remain like that forever, he felt her hand going through his hair and at least took comfort in the fact that she wasn't trying to get as far away from him as possible now they both got what they wanted. He raised his eyes to her, she was looking down on him and the darkness still clouded her eyes, he knew the same hunger was still reflected in his own. He wanted more, he didn't want to let her go from his grip.

Her hand moved from his hair and trailed over the side of his face, when she reached his chin, she angled it up and brought her lips down to his. He responded to her lazy kiss, it was softer than before. Reluctantly she eased his arms from around her and moved back, breaking their contact but still on his lap.

"Was this stupid?" He asked softly.

"Oh yes." She whispered back, staring at his lips.

"Are we going to keep doing it?"

"Oh yes."

_Authors Note – I know some of you thought she was just messing with him and I'm sorry if this chap isn't what you expected or wanted; but I feel I have written quite a lot of stories where the eventual 'get together' of these characters is pretty much played out the same way just different words lol. So I wanted to try it this was, something cold, clinical and purely to serve a purpose...at least to begin with. Feedback, as always, is love, and I know that's awful of me because I'm the worlds worst reviewer but I swear I read it all :D _


	8. Chapter 8

If anything was strange about their new set up, it was how fundamentally _not _strange it was. The expected awkwardness, denial and complete avoidance had not presented themselves at all in the past seven days. Good sex seemed to have left all traces of animosity on the back burner; granted, they weren't exactly mooning after each other, but neither could deny it decreased the tension, put both in a better mood and, if nothing else, relieved the suffocating boredom that had been enveloping them.

"Do I even wanna know where you learned how to do that?" Daniel asked through laboured breaths as he rolled off her onto the mattress.

She chuckled low in her throat. "I don't think you do."

He laughed back as he stared up at the ceiling, hands clasped underneath his head. She nudged him with her hip, under the covers. "I need to sleep."

"Give me a minute, will you? I'm still regaining feeling in my legs."

"And here I thought the notorious man-slut would be able to keep up." She joked.

He rolled on his side and grabbed her hips, trying to pull her over the bed. "Oh I can keep up...you're the one who said she needs to sleep."

Ignoring her body responding to his warm hand on her skin, she pushed gently at his chest. "And I meant it...back to your sad little couch Bob."

He rolled his eyes and moved away from her, sliding to the edge of the bed and slipping on the boxers which had been removed by her willing hands, hours before. Throughout the past week he had ended up in her bed almost every night, when it wasn't the couch, shower or kitchen table, but not once had he actually slept next to her. He laughed inwardly at the notion that he could sleep with her, yet not _sleep_ with her; it had been an unspoken agreement that such a thing would be _too_ intimate.

She turned on her side, facing away from him and closed her eyes to sleep; before she could drift off, she felt a hand tugging at her shoulder and she was too tired to protest as she rolled onto her back. Raising her sleepy eyes upwards, she focussed them just in time to see Daniel lean into her and she felt his lips press against hers gently, kissing her languidly. He pulled back to look at her and then dipped his head again for a second, shorter kiss. "Goodnight." He whispered, when he pulled back.

As he walked to the door, she hurriedly propped herself on her elbows. "What was that?" He ignored her as he opened the door. "Daniel...what the hell was that?" She asked him again.

He turned and smiled from the door. "Goodnight." He repeated, not answering her, and closed it after him.

Smirking to himself as he leaned against the door, he knew she would still be sitting in the same position, staring at the door, wondering what had just possessed him and why he didn't answer. How could he though, when he didn't know the answer himself; he just knew that in that moment he had wanted to kiss her. The action in itself was not strange considering recent events, but before he had only kissed her or been kissed by her when it was leading somewhere.

He shook his head, biting his lip, too tired to examine it now, and made his way down the stairs, picking up his discarded pants and t-shirt and the clothes he had removed from her in his haste on the way upstairs earlier that night.

As he went about his nightly ritual - pulling the blanket, sheets and pillows from their hiding place behind the armchair - he tried to ignore the voice that told him to go back upstairs, the part of him that wanted to sleep next to her and hold her while she slept. But he couldn't, that was not him, it was not her and it most certainly was not _them_. What they did, what they were doing, was sordid; purely a way to scratch a mutual itch, and that's exactly how it needed to stay if he wanted to keep any sort of distance from her when they went back to Mode.

It was just his brain crying out for human contact, he rationalised; it wasn't Wilhelmina he was craving, it was some form of companionship while he was relegated out here in isolation, only his nemesis for company. A sudden sharp pain in his lip made him realise he had been biting down hard as he tried to justify his actions and feelings.

It was a bad sign when he didn't even believe himself.

xXx

After scouring through Daniel's rolodex and seeing it consisted mainly of models, who wouldn't be able to give a decent interview if their life depended on it, and any male celebrities had been crossed out with a red line - which Betty knew from her time as his assistant meant that he had slept with their girlfriend, sister, mother or hell, grandmother and was no longer in their good graces -, they now sat in Wilhelmina's office; Betty and Amanda were flicking through the two rolodexes on the desk while Marc lay on the chaise, going through her Blackberry which had been returned to them by the police.

"She is going to kill you for going through her phone Marc," Betty warned.

"And she's going to kill you when she sees your ass pint on her twenty thousand dollar chair," he shot back, never taking his eyes off the phone. He knew he was supposed to be looking at the contact list but when he had turned the phone on it had been to a high pitched manic beeping and he had been alerted to the 412 messages in her inbox.

Betty and Amanda were fighting over a card that Amanda had taken from the rolodex and was trying to write down the number. "For the twentieth time Amanda, we are trying to find someone to interview, NOT get you dates with hot celebrities," Betty shouted as she ripped the umpteenth card from her hand.

"He doesn't have to be hot...rich is fine...ooh or rich and hot." She swooned as she picked out another card.

Betty snatched it from her hand and read it. "Gerard Butler? Why would Wilhelmina have his details, he's never done a spread for Mode." Betty questioned.

"No...but Willie's done one for him." Marc mumbled, grinning, from his position on the chaise.

"Ew." Betty scrunched up her face.

"The beast with two backs with McScotty the hottie." Amanda's eyes glazed.

Betty shook her head rapidly to clear the disturbing visual. "Actually..." She began tentatively, not wanting to get too ahead of herself. "This might work, it's supposed to be our international issue; plus he's played some historic characters and people from classic literature...I think we might have found our star." She finished happily, certain she had made a good choice.

"Good." Marc sat up. "Because we have another problem. I've managed to get Willie out of most of her engagements, but at least thirty of these messages are from Robbie Myers; the two of them are supposed to be co-hosting a black tie benefit at the end of the month and she is NOT letting go of it."

"Well, you'll just have to make her." Betty said, shrugging.

Marc slapped his forehead. "Gee, _make her, _why didn't I think of that?" He said, sarcastically.

Betty tilted her head and narrowed her eyes, unimpressed by his attitude. "Look, I had hurdles to overcome an-"

"Yes you did!" Marc snapped suddenly. "And Amanda and I are here, helping you. Were you at the design houses with me? Are you going to be at the centre spread shoot? No, you've got your little dilemma sorted so excuse me if I'm worried about dealing with Robbie 'botched nose job' Myers, on top of everything else I still have to do."

Amanda scurried over to the chaise and stood next to Marc, pulling his head to rest sideways against her stomach; he leaned into her, circling her waist with his arm. "I just have the horrible feeling that whatever I do...she's gonna rip it to pieces when she gets home."

"If she does that, she'll have to deal with me." Amanda smiled, running a hand through Marc's hair.

Marc snorted. "No offense Mandy, but you're more scared of her than I am...and stop messing with the do." He pulled her hand from his head.

"True, but I'll send her some very nasty anonymous emails."

"Is there any reason why you three seem to be permanently camped out in Wilhelmina's office?" The three of them looked up to see Claire Meade standing with her arms folded, just inside the doorway, an amused expression on her face.

"Is that...do I hear...oh phone...I should get that." Amanda juddered and ran from the room to do the job she was paid for.

Betty was furtively looking on the desk. "Amanda, where is James Franco's number?" She called after the retreating blonde. "AMANDA!" She jumped up and chased after Amanda, who had started running down the tube.

Marc stayed prone on the chaise, looking into the distance; his initial thrill about being trusted with something of this magnitude was slowly becoming replaced with fear for his career. Claire sat down, next to him; joining him in looking over to the window. "I heard what you said, how worried you are." Claire spoke softly, Marc sighed and looked down at the phone in his hands. "You're full of crap." Her tone changed as she snapped at him bluntly.

Marc swivelled his head, to look at her, aghast. "What?"

"You say you're scared that Wilhelmina will belittle every choice you make in her absence...if you were any other employee, I'd say you were right. But as twisted and as vile as I think that woman can be, I know how she regards you as a talented Editor...and how she cares for you personally. Betty and I can expect some backlash from her...but when do we not? If she does question anything you have done then she will only do so with good reason." She smiled at him. "So don't give her a reason."

"But what if..."

"Marc St James, you know how good you are, don't pretend otherwise. One day, I think you might even be as good as her." Marc's eyebrows shot up. "Don't you ever tell her I said she was that good. You're hiding behind this excuse when really all you're worried about is that _you _will make the wrong choices, not what _she _will think."

Marc smiled softly, nodding. "You're right."

Claire stood and squeezed his shoulder. "Now go do your job."

xXx

By the time the doorbell rang the next morning, Daniel had luckily just stowed away the last of his sleeping stuff safely behind the armchair again. When he opened the door, it was to find their grinning liaison officer on the porch.

"Good morning. Time for your weekly check in." He smiled much too brightly. "Is your 'wife' home?" He asked, trying to look over Daniel's shoulder and putting air quotes around the word wife.

"She's still in bed." Daniel answered, keeping his hand on the door frame and moving his head, mirroring the movements of the other man, to impede the officer's view.

Richards rocked back on his heels, smirking. His eyes looked over Daniel and his smirk widened when he saw the scratches on his neck, the faint finger sized bruises on his biceps and the small dark mark under his ear. "That didn't take long...thin line between love and hate huh?"

Daniel reddened and pulled up the collar of the golf shirt he wore. "Don't know what you mean." He said, unconvincingly.

Richards held his hands up. "Hey, nothing to do with me...but if you could at least tell me exactly _when_ it started...I need to know who won in the office pool." He laughed, increasing Daniel's irritation.

Daniel hoped he was kidding, that they had bet on them, but he had known a few cops in his time and he wouldn't put it past them. "Is there anything in particular you need to tell us...or you just stopping by to speculate on my sex life?"

The older man laughed at Daniel's unease. "Same old stuff as before, here's your money." He slapped the envelope into his hand. "No progress on the case and we have had some annoying high pitched calls from your office...something about a letter...told them there's nothin' doin' though."

Daniel closed his eyes and leaned his forehead against the edge of the door. He had forgotten all about Wilhelmina's letter from the Editor, he was guessing she had too, or else she would be going on about it relentlessly, trying to find a way to get the letter to print and letting her _voice_ be heard. He heard the stairs creak and a couple of seconds later, felt a body move behind him. "Morning." Her voice came from over his shoulder as she addressed the police officer.

"Morning." He smiled back at her. "I was just on my way, I've told your good husband everything there was to say." He nodded at her once and went to leave; stopping himself as if something had just occurred to him, he turned back to them, lifting a finger. "One more thing, the police are in contact with the home owners association; don't panic, no one knows who you are." He said to relieve their worried faces. "We just call from time to time pretending we're looking for references for one thing or another...it's just to gauge how you're fitting in and make sure no one suspects anything."

"And?" Wilhelmina pressed him.

"And...they've already received a number of complaints about you two...seems you created quite a stir at a recent neighbourhood gathering. You are, and I quote 'not the kind of element they want in their family orientated street."

Both Daniel and Willie fought the urge to grin as they remembered the scandalised faces of their neighbours when they had attended the barbecue two weeks before. "This is not funny...you need to keep in with these people. If suburban housewives want you out then you can be damn sure they'll find a way to dig the dirt on you to force you out...sometimes I think we should use middle-aged, middle-class women to interrogate terrorists." He laughed at his own little joke that neither Daniel nor Wilhelmina found even mildly amusing.

He cleared his throat. "Wrong crowd." He mumbled. "Anyway, bottom line, play nice." He grinned again, before turning to walk down the drive, back to his car. "And not just with each other."

Wilhelmina didn't have time to find out what that last comment made, as just as Officer Richards opened the door to his car, a smiling Jesse crossed the street and started walking up their drive.

"Morning, lovebirds!" He trilled brightly, and Daniel was surprised to see that both he and Wilhelmina smiled back at the flamboyant young man. Daniel stood aside to let him in and the young man kissed Wilhelmina on the cheek as he stepped past her. "You want one too big guy?" He asked Daniel, smiling.

Daniel smirked back. "I'll pass...I'm gonna go take a shower." He told Willie and started walking upstairs.

Wilhelmina watched him ascend the stairs until he was out of sight, a small smile on her lips. When she looked back at Jesse he was grinning idiotically. "What?" She asked him.

He shrugged. "Nothing. So aren't you going to invite me in for coffee and ask about my trip?"

She pursed her lips and looked upwards pretending to be considering it. "Nope."

"Okay, how about I bitch about how boring it was and how hideous the people were over a morning Martini?"

"Done." She agreed and he followed her through to the kitchen.

As she set about pulling things from the fridge, Jesse hopped up on a stool and was watching her work, still with a stupid smile lighting up his face. "Okay, seriously, what? You're creeping me out." She asked him again, not looking at him while she sorted out the drinks.

He sighed, and tried to shake off his elated appearance. "Oh nothing, nothing...just glad to be home, tell me the truth, you missed me didn't you?"

She snorted and poured him a drink. "I've known you five minutes...I wasn't exactly pining at the door."

He brought his hand to his heart and pouted acting wounded. It was a move worthy of Marc and Wilhelmina smiled sadly, missing her friend. "Well I missed you...James's family don't really _get me_, and I think I scare half the residents of the street. You, on the other hand, I can talk to."

Wilhelmina busied herself, mixing more drink in the pitcher and storing it in the fridge for later, she was still uncomfortable with people displaying emotions in front of her; especially when they were directed _at_ her. She carried on moving things about the kitchen, not really listening to what he was saying.

"But then, I guess, you're used to gay men fawning over you. You're kinda like a Mecca to the fashion savvy gay man, aren't you Willie?"

She was absentmindedly trying to create room amongst all Daniel's junk food in the fridge. "Well I wouldn't say Mecca exactly, but I do seem to hold some-" She suddenly stopped what she was doing, hoping against hope, she hadn't heard him right. She placed the pitcher on the counter and turned very slowly, closing the fridge and facing him. When she looked at him she saw that the grin had sprung back to his face and was practically splitting it in two.

"I knew it!" He rejoiced, clapping his hands.

"Knew what?" She shrugged her shoulders, speaking quietly and staring him down. "What are you talking about?"

Jesse snorted and jumped off the stool; he walked towards her and snatched the copy of Mode from behind her. Opening it at the masthead he laid it before her and pointed to the thumbnail picture, next to her name and title. "So this isn't you?"

"Nope." She outright lied and the man laughed.

"Riiiight...and I suppose this isn't your hubby dearest either?" He pointed to Daniel's picture.

She folded her arms and fixed him with a glare, her begrudging growing affection for the man was vanishing. "What do you want?"

He looked up from Mode, confused, his smile falling. "Huh?"

"To keep your mouth shut. I can't do much from here but when we get back I'm sure we can sort out a sum adequate enough in return for your silence."

He shook his head. "Oh honey no...I don't want anything. Well except for the scoop...why are you here? Why are you and Danny Meade playing Mr & Mrs? You two got some kinky role play thing going on you don't want the world to know about? Is the whole 'I hate you' thing just for the press? Have you two been sneaking away into hiding for years? Gimme gimme gimme!" He jumped back up on the counter, eagerly awaiting her answer.

"First...how did you find out?" She eyed him dangerously. "Or have you known all along?"

"Well I knew I knew you from somewhere but it wasn't until we were in New York visiting James' sister that I happened to catch Fashion Buzz and it all clicked."

She brought a hand to her eyes and grimaced. "Who else saw...who have you told?"

"No one, I promise?"

"James?"

"Oh please." He laughed. "I love the man, but he doesn't know Wang from Walmart. I was alone, I haven't told anyone...and I won't. I don't get it though...why here? Why you and Daniel Meade?"

"What did Fashion Buzz say?" She ignored him, worried that their absence had been noted by the media.

"Just that you and Daniel were currently touring the Mode's... injecting some NY sparkle into the less successful publications in the UK, Brazil and France."

Willie bit her lip, nodding, glad at least that they had bought the cover story she had told Marc to leak. Jesse jumped back up on the counter, leaning forward, grinning as before. "So is that like your code? Daniel and Willie are touring the Modes; read: Daniel and Willie have snuck away for some secret action?" He was beside himself with glee that he had been the one to find out the truth and relished the secret he now held.

Wilhelmina folded her arms and leaned back against the counter next to him; her lips set in a firm line as she stared resolutely ahead. "You could not be further from the truth."

xXx

Daniel left the shower feeling clean and refreshed; he vaguely registered the disappointment that he couldn't smell her perfume on his skin anymore and shoved the much too complicated thought to one side. Once he had grabbed a fresh set of polyester nightmares from the closet and dressed in the spare room - dressing in the room she was using was also something that felt too intimate - he walked downstairs to find her and Jesse still in the kitchen.

He failed to notice that the man sitting on the counter seemed to be looking at him anew. Smirking to himself, he walked to where Willie was leaning against the counter and placed an arm either side of her, amused by the fact that she now had no reason to rebuke his attempts at showing they were a couple. "I didn't get a chance to say good morning." He leaned in and brushed his lips against hers; was he doing it to keep up the facade in front of the neighbour, or because he wanted to? Even he didn't know anymore. What he did know was that she didn't respond as she had before, when he pulled back he expected to see annoyance that he pulled a stunt like that around Jesse, or the want he had become accustomed to seeing lately; not the worry that was fixed on her face.

"What's wrong?" He asked, his arms still caging her.

"Daniel..." Daniel's eyes widened as she spoke his real name and his eyes darted between her and the smiling man on the counter, he opened his mouth to try and think of something to cover her faux-pas, when she sighed loudly. "He knows Daniel."

Daniel's arms fell by his side and he took a step back. "You told him! Oh well done, I would have thought that you of all people could keep a secret."

She pushed his chest sharply, making him stumble back. "Of course I didn't tell him you idiot! He found out on his own...he saw us on Fashion Buzz when he was in New York."

"Oh." He immediately regretted the accusation. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean-"

"Yes you did, just drop it." She said resigned, cutting him off.

Daniel tried to ignore the wall she was putting between them and turned his attention to the only other person who knew their secret. "Does anyone else know?"

"Nope...and I swear I won't tell anyone, not even James." He pretended to zip his lips closed. "But Witness protection...wow...glamorous."

Wilhelmina snorted. "Yes, living in a detached house with no money and clothes even Betty Suarez would give to good will...is much more glamorous than the lives of two Editors-In-Chief in New York." She said sarcastically.

Daniel leaned on the counter opposite Willie and mirrored her actions, folding his arms; he was perturbed to see that she wouldn't look at him. "This is a mess." He grumbled. "No one is supposed to know...no offense Jesse but we don't know you well enough to say that we can trust you. Plus, the rest of the neighbours think we're delinquent freaks, we're supposed to be fitting in, not ostracizing ourselves."

"I might have a solution." Jesse offered and the two of them looked at him expectantly. "Firstly; you can trust me okay, for no other reason than Wilhelmina Slater now knows where I live and betraying her confidence wouldn't exactly be a wise move." Daniel chuckled, seeing the truth in the words. "And secondly; you can more than make up for what happened with the rest of the pathetic street, when it's your turn to have everyone over."

"Wait...I'm supposed to throw a party for these busybodies?" Willie snapped. "This place just gets better and fucking better."

Daniel had screwed his face up in thought. "Actually that might work, we can convince them all that what happened last time was just our warped sense of humour...we've worked on our back-story so we won't get caught out again."

Jesse jumped from the counted. "Yay! James and I were supposed to have everyone round this Saturday but I'll go tell him we're trading with you." He clapped.

Wilhelmina rolled her eyes. "One problem Daniel, what exactly are we going to serve these people? Do I look like I barbecue? And the thought of you near naked flames gives me images of this house going up in smoke."

Daniel shrugged. "We can just get them good and drunk, call it a cocktail party; I know you know how to throw them."

"And what cocktails shall we serve? Three dollar wine coolers and Kool-Aid? In case you haven't noticed, we are broke."

Daniel slumped back down against the cabinet. Jesse looked from Daniel to Wilhelmina and back again. "Look, I would offer...but I'm not allowed to handle our money...last time, I bought a pair of Judy Garland's original Ruby Slippers from eBay, they cost fortunes... James was ma-aaaaad!" He grinned.

Wilhelmina didn't look up from her position. "And they were fake, the originals have only ever been sold at private auctions."

Jesse shrugged, unshaken by the fact he had spent thousands on a cheap knock off. "You win some, you lose some. I'll leave you two to sort this out."

As he walked through the living room, to the front door, Daniel and Willie followed to see him out and give him last minute warnings to keep his mouth shut, which he still promised to do. He was on the step of the porch and Willie was about to close the door. "Goodbye Jesse." The man turned around.

"Hold on...if you knew I knew who you both were, and there was no need to keep up the front..." His eyes widened. "...why did you let him kiss you?"

In the background, Daniel leaned against the couch, interested in her answer. He didn't get one.

"Goodbye Jesse," she repeated, closing the door on him and sighing inwardly when she heard an 'oh my God' from the other side.

"Why did you?" Daniel said with an amused expression, still leaning on the couch.

"Oh shut up." She moaned, annoyed at their predicament and moved to copy his position, leaning next to him. "How are we gonna do this?"

"Well we have a couple of days, maybe they'll catch the guy and we won't have to."

She huffed. "Yeah, 'cos they NYPD have proven to be so adept so far."

They stayed like that for several minutes, trying to think of a way around the mess they had landed themselves in. Daniel pushed himself up from the couch. "All this thinking is making my head hurt...do we have any painkillers?"

"Uh...upstairs...there's some in my purse." She answered, not really paying attention.

She was still trying to formulate a plan, she supposed she could try and blag some more free stuff but that was the most demeaning experience of her life and she doubted she had enough time to get enough to have a party. She dimly registered the sound of Daniel moving about upstairs and the slow heavy footfalls coming back down.

"What...the hell...is this?" The low, angry voice came from halfway up the stairs and Willie looked up to see him standing midway on the staircase, holding her secret purchase in his hands and scowling.

"What does it look like?" She arched her brow; she was not about to apologise or offer thinly veiled excuses.

"You got a fucking cell phone?" He snapped. "What part of 'no contact' did you not understand?"

"I understood it perfectly!" She bit back, pushing herself up and placing her hands on her hips. "Are you that dense that you can't see it hasn't even been opened?"

Daniel looked at the phone in his hands, still in the packaging, and walked down the stairs to join her. He placed the phone on the table in front of them and they both stared at it, preferring it over looking at each other. "Look." Willie began. "I got it on impulse...in case of an emergency, it's prepaid so there was no paperwork, no signature required. I just thought it was smart okay?"

He nodded beside her. "Why didn't you tell me?"

"Well, we weren't exactly buddy buddy at the time Daniel." She snorted.

"And now?"

She sighed. "And now...now I don't know what we are...except fucked up."

He laughed, walking forward he picked up the phone and ripped it from its packaging and handed it to Wilhelmina. She took it from him and looked up at him in confusion.

"Marc has access to your accounts and my mother has access to mine." He told her, seeing a way out of their problem.

"When I said emergency, I didn't exactly mean 'oh please help us, we need cash for booze and nibbles'"

Daniel took a step forward and ran a hand down her arm; he knew she was just as desperate to hear a familiar voice as he was. He knew why she was holding out on phoning them was the same reason he was having trouble with it, if they saw their nearest and dearest it would bring them back to reality, back to who they were before this house, to the way they were. With courage he didn't know he had, he lowered his head and kissed her gently, pulling away before she had time to respond or reject him.

"Call them."


	9. Chapter 9

Marc had surprised himself; surpassing even his own expectations, after the kick up the ass that was Claire's version of a pep talk, he had refused to think negatively and the solutions had come easily. He had called Paris to speak to Alexis and he now had her on stand-by to take Willie's place if she was still M.I.A. when the benefit rolled around.

He knew he would still need to face the wrath of Robbie Myers but she was a pussycat compared to the woman he had spent the last seven years under. The only thing he had still yet to figure out was how to produce a, Wilhelmina Slater worthy, letter from the Editor.

He picked up his coat from the coat rack behind Willie's door; he was becoming far too comfortable behind her desk and would be sad to give it back, when her desk phone rang. He had been dealing with all Wilhelmina's appointments though the phone at his old desk and had ignored Wilhelmina's whenever it rang; this time something stopped him in his tracks.

He turned on the spot, in the doorway and stared at the ringing phone, something told him he had to answer it. Circling the desk and dropping his coat on the glass surface, he snatched up the receiver.

"Wilhelmina Slater's office."

"Yes it is…so why are _you _answering the phone instead of your cell which I've been trying for twenty minutes?"

He sank down on the chair as the familiar voice rang through his head. She had been gone three weeks but with the first word it felt like she hadn't been gone at all. "Willie?" He breathed into the phone.

"Don't sound so shocked Marc." The drawl rang in his ears.

"Oh my God…are you guys out? What happened? Are you coming home?"

"If I was coming home I would make sure I did it quietly so I could catch you red handed sitting in my chair, playing Editor-In-Chief…just a heads up."

Marc nodded. "Duly noted…so…" He turned the chair around to face the window and dipped his head low, whispering into the phone. "…why are you calling? Did you kill Daniel? Do you need an alibi? A good place to hide the body?"

"Marc just listen…Daniel and I need your help, and Claire's unfortunately. We need cash and you are the only two with access to our accounts."

Marc grabbed a pen and paper from the desk. "Okay, tell me how much and which account to transfer it to."

He heard a groan of annoyance through the phone line and knew her eyes would be rolling. "Marc…secret identities remember? We don't have any accounts. You'll…you'll need to come and meet us."

"Where?"

"Hartford, Connecticut; there's a large park in the middle of town. Meet us there at 1 o'clock. Don't tell anyone but Claire you hear me? I did tell Daniel that we could take all the money needed from my account but his ego won't allow it." She complained. "To be honest I think he just wants to see his Mommy."

Marc heard a 'Hey!' in the background and a snort of amusement from Willie; Marc pulled the receiver away from his ear and stared at it. He returned the phone to his ear in time to hear Willie addressing Daniel. "Do you want to speak to your mother?" _A mumble in the background._ "Marc will go and get her." _More incoherent sounds in the distance. _"Fine…don't say I didn't offer."_ The unclear voice asked a question. _"No I will not ask him to get Betty to pick you out some clothes…you really want her to do it anyway? You'll look worse that you do now."

"Helloooo, remember me?" Marc sang down the line.

She sighed down the phone and Marc could still hear Daniel rambling in the background, though Willie was obviously now ignoring him. "Look, just get enough money from each account to keep us going for a while…use your discretion, I'll see you tomorrow."

Wilhelmina hung up the phone and turned to Daniel. "Was there anything else you wanted to say? I didn't want to use up all the call time in case we needed it again." She asked, more cordially than he could ever remember her being.

He shook his head. "Nope…I suppose anything Mode related we can talk about tomorrow."

"That's what I figured." The two of them had fallen into an uncomfortable silence, the first one which had presented itself in over a week, they thought they were past that stage; but speaking to Marc and mentioning Mode made everything seem much more complicated.

She cleared her throat. "Why…uh…why didn't you want to speak to your Mom?"

He shrugged. "I don't know, I just feel…weird about it. I'm feeling weird about seeing her tomorrow too if truth be told."

Wilhelmina folded her arms and attempted a laugh. "You think your Mom would be able to tell we've been sleeping together just by looking at you?"

"Well you do like to leave your mark." He smirked.

Willie stepped forward and pulled at the raised collar of his top, admiring her handiwork. "That's easily hidden…bit of concealer…I've had to hide worse."

"I'm not wearing make-up." He chuckled.

"Fine…just tell your Mom you were mauled by a cat."

He laughed at her, she hadn't taken her hand away from his collar although she had finished scrutinising the marks she had made. "A cat? A very loud, horny cat?"

"Hey you're the one who needs the excuse…you're the one with evidence."

"I wouldn't say that exactly, yours are just covered."

She dropped her hand from his collar and stepped back; the atmosphere changing instantly. "Is it just me or has making a connection with our old lives brought home how fucking stupid we're being?" She asked, biting her lip.

He nodded slowly. "Yep…I think…"

"We should stop?" She finished for him.

They looked at each other and nodded. Daniel smiled at her aware that in the coming hours she would spend her time reconstructing the shield around her so when she met Marc tomorrow she would be back to the stoic bitch she had always been and he would be nothing more than an unintelligible buzzing in her ear.

"There's just one thing." Wilhelmina said suddenly.

"What?" He fixed his eyes to her but she lowered her to the ground and cleared her throat.

She looked up and sighed then squeezed her eyes closed as if saying what she had to say was causing her physical pain. "I don't want to."

She bit the inside of her cheek and folded her arms, the expression on her face showing how embarrassed she was at her admission. In their old life, back in New York, she would never have been one to make such a proclamation first; that being said, in their old lives she wouldn't have spent the last week screwing him.

Still looking away, she huffed at his silence and was about to take the statement back, when she felt him lightly tug on her arm. When her body turned to face his, she found his head close to hers, dipped low with an unreadable expression. He seemed to study her for several seconds, never letting what he was thinking show on his face. He opened his mouth to say something, but shut it again abruptly; choosing to bring his lips to hers to say what he had to say.

When he felt her respond, he lowered his hands to circle her waist, pulling his head away briefly. "Neither do I."

"So what does this make us?" She asked, not sure how or even if she wanted to quantify what this was.

He shrugged. "Fucked?"

She laughed. "You're so eloquent Daniel."

His hand came up to her hair and he watched his fingers slide through the strands. "Look, we both know that this…whatever…it's not gonna work back in the city. But here…we're not…I don't know, can't we just examine how stupid it is once it's over? Why are we regretting it before we're even done? Haven't we both had enough shit happen to us in the past year that we deserve to just live in the now?"

"Who are you trying to justify this to? Me, or yourself?"

"Both?" He answered, unsure.

She stared up at him, he was right. Out here they weren't Daniel Meade and Wilhelmina Slater; the editors who everyone saw fighting for dominance at every opportunity. Out here, she could actually see him for the man he was. She had been so busy for the past four years, trying to remove him from her path that she had never actually stopped to see who the type of person he could be.

The same could be said of him. All he had ever seen was the ruthless side of Wilhelmina; the power hungry, narcissistic woman who would stop at nothing to get what she wanted. Take her away from Mode and she was just a woman, an extraordinary woman, but a woman none the less. Daniel could see what Connor had been offered and in that moment he thought his old friend was a fool for risking it all.

"We just have to play it cool tomorrow…but come on…who's really ever going to suspect US of being together?" Daniel chuckled, in awe of how right his arms felt around her.

Her hands came up to rest on his chest. "True…but is it bad that a tiny part of me wants to see your mother's face if they ever do work it out?"

He laughed. "Yeah…but that's you…I'm learning to live with it."

XXx

"You told Betty? Wilhelmina expressly told me that only you and I were to know!" Marc tried to maintain a level of respect in his voice for the older woman.

"Think back Marc, when have you ever known me to listen to Wilhelmina Slater's demands? Anyway…don't try telling me you didn't tell Amanda." She smirked as she folded bundles of cash into a large envelope.

Marc pouted. "That's different."

"How?"

"We share a brain." He told her as if it was the most logical thing in the world.

Claire picked up her purse and coat. "Are you ready? We have quite a drive ahead of us."

Marc nodded and stood up, the pair of them walked to the door of the penthouse office and bumped into Betty and Amanda; clearly dressed for travelling.

"And just what do you two think you're doing?" Claire asked.

"Modies road trip." Amanda answered brightly.

"Amanda, you said we were invited." Betty whined, slapping her arm with the back of her hand.

"It was implied." Amanda shrugged.

Claire shook her head. "You two stay put, I don't even think we can spare Marc for the day but I really can't be bothered facing a hysterical Wilhelmina alone if I turn up without him."

Claire walked to the elevator with Marc in tow. "Okay." Amanda drew the word out. "But without you two here to keep me right…I hope I remember the cover story if anyone calls asking for either of them."

Claire stopped just as the elevator doors opened and turned to face Amanda, her eyes narrowed into slits. She looked at Marc and then back at Amanda and Betty, weighing her options. She sharply tilted her head to indicate the open elevator. "Hurry up."

Amanda clapped and hurried in after Marc, the two of them jumping on the balls of their feet, excitedly. Betty slipped into the elevator and smiled sheepishly at Claire.

"Will Wilhelmina be mad that we're coming too?"

Claire smirked down at her, then raised her head to look at the number display above the door. "Why do you think I'm bringing you along?"

XX

When Daniel awoke, his eyes adjusted in the brightness of the bedroom. He felt more comfortable than he had done in weeks, the bed proving to be much less lumpy than the sofa he had been used to. Neither of them had addressed it, but last night she had simply let him stay. Another new step he was dreading analysing; right now though, he didn't care.

Turning his head to side, he squinted at the empty pillow beside him and then smirked when his gaze travelled down and he saw a foot sticking out the end of the sheet. Wakening up more to his surroundings, he leveraged himself on his elbows and looked down the bed. She was lying on her front, her head at the end of the bed, propped up on her folded arms, flicking through the Mode issue for the fiftieth time.

He reached out a hand and circled her ankle, rubbing it. She jumped under his touch. "Oh you're awake." Her voice was monotonous.

"Mm Hm…what are you doing down there?"

"I'm down here because your snoring was making my brain leak."

He chuckled and tugged on the ankle he had in his grasp. "C'mere."

She kicked her ankle out of his grasp. "Quit it…I'm reading."

"Willie, you've read it cover to cover, what more could you possibly get from it?" He eased his hand up, pushing the sheet aside and revealing her bare calf, continuing to massage his way upward.

She squirmed her leg under his touch. "I said quit it." It was said half heartedly, as he sat up in the bed and brought his other hand to mirror his movements on her other leg.

"Come on…we need to go meet Marc and my Mom in like…" He looked at the clock. "…three hours."

"You mention a gay man and your mother and you think that's going to put me in the mood?" She drawled, but she was smiling and had dropped the magazine. She turned her head to the side, leaning on her folded hands under her cheek; enjoying his hands on her.

"I'm just saying I need a little…tension relief."

Lifting the sheet higher, he moved his hands to the bend in the back of her knees, applying the same rolling pressure he had used on her calves. Leaning forward, he brought his knees up under him and leaned forward. He brought his mouth to the skin on her calf, leaving wet kisses on the flesh as his hands moved higher still, to her thighs.

Willie tried to turn her body under him, but he increased the pressure on her thighs, keeping her tight against the mattress. His mouth switched to the other leg, his teeth nipping at her as he grazed the back of her thigh. She tried to hold her body still, knowing he wouldn't let her move and not wanting him to see what an extreme reaction she was having to his explorations.

Daniel could tell from the way her hands were unconsciously clenching the sheet under her head, that she was fighting to keep it together. Sweeping his hand over her, he relieved her of the sheet covering her body and brought his grasp to the slope of her ass, his torturously slow kisses trailing after his hands on to the base of her spine as he moved to grab her hips.

As Daniel moved further up her body, he nudged at her legs with his knees, making room to steady himself. He leaned his body down towards her and traced a line up her spine with the very tip of his tongue, making her shiver. He ran the backs of his hands up her sides, over the curve of her breasts pressed against the mattress, with a feather light touch.

At her neck, he bit lightly onto the skin under her ear as he lifted her torso ever so slightly, just enough to slide his hands between her body and the bed, and squeeze a breast in each hand; making her gasp her first involuntary noise since his teasing began.

He lowered, his body onto hers, careful to keep at an angle so as not to crush her, and she could feel his hardness straining against her thigh. She found her body acting of its own accord and pushing back to press against him. Willie closed her eyes as Daniel continued his assault on her neck, lifting his mouth to pull a lobe into his mouth.

Her breath was coming in short bursts, he had focussed all his efforts on the back of her body only and she could already feel herself nearing the edge. She normally wasn't one to play any other role than the dominant one, but the heat of him pressed against her made her not care; the only thing she wanted was more.

She attempted again, to twist her body so she was lying on her back but again he pushed himself onto her, using the weight to keep her pinned. As quickly as the increased pressure was there, it was gone; he moved back nimbly onto his bent knees and grabbed her by the hips, bringing her with him.

Holding on tight round her waist, he brought her back against his chest as she straddled his bended legs and with one upward thrust he was inside her and her head flew back against his shoulder at the sensation. The arms wrapped around her waist held her tight, his hands clutching on to the opposite elbows, leaving her no choice but to submit to his motions; to surrender to the pace he set as he rose up slowly on his knees and back down.

The slow pace was driving her crazy but she had no way to gain control, her hands held onto the arms that encircled her and her nails dug into the flesh on his forearms. She had never been one to use the phrase 'sweet torture' but that was all that came to her mind as he moved rhythmically inside her.

Unknown to her, Daniel was having just as hard a time maintaining the leisurely pace. His movements behind her became less timed as he began rising up quicker behind her. His jaw clenched and he could feel the sweat beading on his forehead as he closed his eyes and poured all his energy into making it last.

It was a battle he was losing, he realised, as the familiar tightening crept over him. Releasing her waist, he brought his hands to cup her breasts and ran his thumbs over them. She arched against his chest as he pinched them and, now no longer constricted by his hold, she rocked her pelvis on him, speeding up the pace as she slammed down on him.

Daniel's head rolled back on his shoulders and he gripped her hips, moving at an increasing rate, biting his lip hard as he reached the edge quickly. As her own climax approached, her body acted of its own volition and tried to lurch forward but he looped one arm around her waist and caught her, bringing her back to press against his chest again.

Unable to delay his release longer, he found he was now almost fully raised on his knees and he snaked his hand down her body, bringing two fingers to her and pinching hard. Instantly, her body went rigid under his touch and she pressed further against his chest, her hand stretching behind her to twist in his hair. He held her like that as he thrust wildly into her, biting on her shoulder hard as he came; his body shaking against hers.

Her muscles were still twitching beyond her control and her breath came out shaky as she released her tight grip in his hair and let her hand fall down the side of their still joined bodies. She didn't seem to have the energy to move her head from resting on his shoulder, it lolled forward against her chest as she tried to get her body back under her command.

Daniel slid his hands back up her sides onto her shoulders and brushed her hair to one side, leaning forward, he let his lips trace over the marks his teeth had made on her. He darted his tongue across it, tasting the sweat on her skin and he shifted her in his lap, bringing her side on. She turned her eyes to his for the first time since he had woken and she stared at his lips, realising she hadn't felt them against hers once during their early morning encounter.

She dipped her head as he raised his, both closing the distance together and their lips lazily explored each other. In the back of their minds they both knew this was going to be harder to let go of than either of them would have anticipated. What they had was like getting the surprise Christmas present you never knew you wanted but prized over everything else when you did.

"Tension relieved?" She asked him, breathlessly.

He leaned his forehead against hers, still taking laboured gulps of air. "I think I'm more tense now…they're gonna know."

She pushed against his forehead, making him look up. "How?"

He looked right in her eyes. "Because as messed up as all this is, we're the closest we can possibly be to each other right now…and I still want you closer."

XX

"Did she say where?" Claire asked, her arms folded in annoyance. It was 1.15pm and they were standing in the park, still awaiting a sign of either Daniel or Wilhelmina.

"Nope, she's Willie, why would she? I'm expected to just know." Marc huffed.

"Well…your intuition didn't prove you wrong."

They both spun round at the familiar voice and were greeted by Wilhelmina smirking at them, Daniel standing some ways behind her smiling. In a flash Claire had rushed forward and crushed her son in a hug and Marc, in a rare moment of courage, did the same to Wilhelmina. She relented, smiling inwardly at her friend's happiness to see her and feeling the same towards him.

Claire stepped back and cupped her son's face, smiling at him. "Darling, how are you? Have the police given you any indication of how long this might take? I miss you."

Daniel took his mother's hand in his and kissed it. "I miss you too, the police haven't told us anything and I'm fine." He chuckled.

Marc looked at Willie and cocked his head; hand on hip. "Well, it's not your usual high brand…but you still look fabulous." He looked up and down her ensemble. "Only you could make housewife chic look so good."

"Thank you darling."

Wilhelmina turned her focus to Claire. "Claire." She nodded, curtly.

"Wilhelmina." She responded, just as tense. "How are you holding up?"

"Fine, I take it you have the money?" Claire nodded and patted her purse. "Good, can we go somewhere more private, we passed a coffee shop across the street."

"Actually…we need to wait." Marc stated in a worried tone.

"Wait…why?" Willie asked.

As soon as the words left her mouth, the air was split by two voices yelling. "Daniel!" They all turned just in time to see a mass of blonde and a bundle of colour fly at Daniel, four arms enveloping him in a hug. Willie rounded on Marc, fuming, before she could say anything Claire gripped her forearm. "It's my fault, I said they could come."

Willie snatched her arm away and turned to face Betty and Amanda. "No hug for me?" She raised an eyebrow.

Amanda, always unable to recognise Wilhelmina's dry sarcastic humour, widened her eyes and tentatively lifted her arms towards Willie; she was thankfully saved by Marc grabbing her arms and forcing them back by her sides, much to Willie's amusement.

"Well now the whole Scooby gang is here, how about we take this somewhere a little less public." Daniel suggested.

"Bob..? Leigh..?" A voice called from somewhere in the distance.

Willie and Daniel looked at each other. "Shit." They whispered at the same time.

Daniel looked over Willie's shoulder and saw Helen and Howard approaching. He swiftly moved to circle Wilhelmina's shoulders with his arm, much to the confusion of the other four people present.

"Whatever we say, play along." Daniel hissed out the corner of his mouth.

"What's going-" Claire started.

"No time!" Willie cut her off, her arm going around Daniel's waist. "Just go with it!" She snapped under her breath as the couple drew closer.

"We thought that was you! The annoying woman squawked when she was next to them. "I just said to Howard, I said 'doesn't that look like our new neighbours?' didn't I Howard?"

"Yes dear."

"What a surprise meeting you two here!"

Willie narrowed her eyes, the couple hadn't come near them since the debacle at their house and she knew she was only coming over now because her curiosity about the four strangers with them outweighed her disdain at their previous actions. "And yet…here you are."

"I must say Bob, we were so looking forward to going to James' place this weekend, he really is a talented chef…but we're so pleased you and your wife are getting into the community spirit."

"Wife?" Amanda whispered harshly and Betty stamped on her foot.

Wilhelmina could physically feel Claire's whole body tense behind her and bit back a smirk.

Helen smiled around the group, falsely. "So who are your fine friends?"

Claire stepped forward, extending her hand, determined to learn more about what she had just heard. "Claire Meade…Daniel's mother."

The remaining five of the Mode staff, cringed inwardly at the major mis-step. "Daniel? Who's Daniel?" Helen asked, confused.

"I am." Marc sprang forward, smiling, extending his hand to the man and woman in turn.

"I apologise…I assumed you had met," Claire covered. "After all Daniel is close friends with _Leigh_ and _Bob_." She choked on the forced words.

"Well, it's a pleasure to meet you both; isn't it Howard?"

"Yes dear."

"And this is Amanda and Betty." Daniel interjected, before anyone else could make a mistake. Amanda looked positively petulant that she didn't get to play secret identity with the rest of them. "Friends of ours from Michigan."

Helen and Howard took it in turn to shake hands with them both. "So…are you in town for the big 'get to know the Johnson's' bash, these two are throwing?"

"Nope, unfortunately-" Daniel began.

"No they-" Willie started.

"Wouldn't miss it for the world!" Claire shouted over the two of them.

Willie and Daniel turned ever so slowly to face the entourage, which were only supposed to come to their financial aid. Their faces were set in stone as Amanda and Marc grinned back, Claire fixed them both with a fake smile and eyes which said an explanation was sorely needed and Betty looked around the entire group, willing the peace to be kept.

"But you have that…thing, you said." Willie spoke tersely.

"Oh that…_thing_ can keep for one day. I want to see this new life you two have built for yourself." She kept smiling back at her.

"Oh but the car you guys brought down will have to go back tonight…shame, we just don't have the room in hours." Daniel spoke through clenched teeth.

"Oh no worry there! We can take someone back with us in the Bentley!" Helen offered.

Amanda shot forward. "Bentley? Shotgun!" Daniel's arm shot out and grabbed her, knowing if any of them were likely to spill the beans it was Amanda Tanen-Sommers.

He looked over at the member of the group with the most integrity. "Betty?" He asked, apologizing with his eyes.

"Sure…I mean…yeah." She stepped away from the group.

"Actually," Claire spoke, "I think I might keep Betty company, no point squeezing five into one car when there's a spacious Bentley on hand." She stepped past them to join Betty.

"Of course!" Helen practically squealed, loving being involved with new people. "This way…we'll see the rest of you back on the street."

Daniel and Willie watched as their new neighbours walked into the distance with Claire and Betty. Wilhelmina's eyes flicked to Marc, who was smiling broadly. "Stop that now!" She scolded him. "This is not funny!"

"You two…are married?" He genuinely tried to hold in his laugh and failed. "I'm sorry Willie but yes…this is funny."

Daniel and Willie started marching towards their car and Daniel pressed the button to unlock it. "Just keep it together for one day…it'll be fine." He whispered, making sure Marc and Amanda were behind them, out of earshot.

"I am going to kill your mother for this…right after that interfering harpy and her moronic husband." She whispered back.

Marc jumped in the back of the car, Amanda leaned on the door, smiling at them.

"What!" They both shot at her.

"You two do realise your arms are still around each other, right?"

Daniel and Willie quickly dropped their arms by their sides and took a step away from each other. Daniel walked around the side and got in the driver's seat. Amanda still smirked at Wilhelmina who could feel the heat rising to her cheeks.

"Just get in the car Goldielocks!"


	10. Chapter 10

_A/N - This chapter has not been Beta read, all mistakes are my own._

The ride back to the suburb had been served in fraught silence; Daniels hands had remained clenched firmly in the two and ten positions on the steering wheel, Willie had stared out the opposite window the entire time, her legs crossed and body angled away from his, tapping her nails on the dashboard; both of them worrying about what their neighbours could possibly be talking about with Claire and Betty.

Marc and Amanda were passing Marc's cell phone between each other in the back seat, typing messages to each other; too scared to speak in case Wilhelmina _actually_ exploded this time. This trip back to their safe house was a bad idea and a very stupid move on Claire's part. Marc only hoped that when Willie killed Claire, as she inevitably would, that she would do it quickly and cleanly.

When they pulled back up at the house, they could see the Bentley parked outside Helen and Howards house and watched as they walked across the street with Betty and Claire. Claire was walking close to Helen, the two engaged in lively but hushed conversation which made Wilhelmina's stomach clench. Betty looked uneasy at the entire situation and Howard meandered behind, his eyes were glazed and Willie wondered if they had ever held a trace of life; before his relentless wife talked the spark out of them.

As the foursome approached and met them on the lawn, Daniel unlocked the door and reluctantly held it open for them all to enter. Now that his mother, Marc, Betty and Amanda were inside, it didn't feel like the place it had been before; it no longer felt like the sanctuary he and Wilhelmina had started to view it as, the one place where they had been free to pretend. Now it felt like the sham it was and it saddened him.

Once everyone was inside the house, Wilhelmina shut the door and the room seemed far too crowded, no one had moved to take a seat. Grudgingly, Willie extended her hand. "Please...sit down." She truly hated having to act cordial to Claire and by the smirk on the older woman's face she knew she was loving it.

Daniel clapped his hands together once, loudly, making everyone jump. "Drinks!"

The Modies all sat down; Marc, Amanda and Betty all squashed on the couch while Claire sat on the small two seater love seat in the box window. Although there was still an armchair left, Howard preferred to remain standing, hovering around his wife's shoulder as she sat next to Claire. "Coffee will be fine." Claire was the only one to answer and the rest all nodded in agreement; except Howard who seemed content to just scratch himself through the pockets of his trousers, much to Willie's distaste.

"I think I'll just powder my nose." Claire trilled, standing up.

"Top of the stairs. "Daniel told her and watched her ascend the stairs, before turning to Wilhelmina. "_Sweetie._" He said, putting emphasis on the word, Making Marc and Amanda stifle a laugh. "Help me with the coffees?"

"Sure...uh-huh...yeah." She answered speedily and walked briskly into the kitchen, followed by Daniel.

As soon as the door closed behind them Daniel pulled her over to the counter, speaking quietly and quickly. "You know my Mom is going to go snooping up there. Is there anything in that room that would...you know?"

She narrowed her eyes at him and his stupidity. "You mean except the banner above the bed that says 'Dan + Wil 4eva and eva'? Of course not you idiot."

"No need to be sarcastic, I meant like clothes or underwear or something."

"Calm down Danielle." She mocked him. "Unlike you, I actually try and keep this house moderately tidy...I miss my housekeeper." She lamented.

Daniel leaned on his arms on the counter and rummaged in the fruit bowl before him, popping a grape in his mouth and shook his head while he chewed on it. "I can't believe my Mom would be so stupid."

"She's not being stupid, she's being nosey...like only Claire Meade knows how." She snatched a grape and leaned back against the counter; she shrugged. "Look, you're right, I'm freaking out about nothing. There's no way any of the four of them will think we can do anything but fight."

Daniel chuckled. "Well I don't know about you but I think I prefer the other F-word we seem to be getting rather good at." Willie raised her eyebrows at him. "What!" He exclaimed. "I meant friendship!"

"Of course you did." She nodded exaggeratedly at him, drawing out her words, making him laugh.

The heard the creak of the stairs just beyond the kitchen door, instead of rejoining the rest of the party in the lounge, the door swung open and Claire joined them in the kitchen. She noted the easy smiles on their faces before they had the chance to remove them. "I thought you two were making coffee?"

Willie stood up straight, away from the counter. "And don't you just love the idea of me serving you?" She walked to a far away cupboard and pulled out some coffee filters. Daniel stood also and flipped on the coffee machine and caught the filters which Willie threw him. Daniel lifted the back of the machine out and handed it to Willie who walked past at that exact moment and traded with the ground coffee, which he took as she filled the part in her hand with water. As soon as Daniel had placed the filter and the coffee in the machine, he turned in time to take the water from Willie, slip it back into the machine and flip it on. They went back to their earlier positions at the counter and looked at Claire's unfathomable face.

"What?"

"That was..you two...you're quite in sync aren't you?"

They looked at each other, genuinely confused and then back at Claire. "It's coffee, not brain surgery."

"But you two can't work together on the smallest thing." Claire folded her arms, not liking the ease they were at with each other.

Willie sighed. "Claire, we're stuck in this house with only each other for company...what's the point in antagonizing each other?"

She stared for several seconds and then nodded, conceding and biting her lip. "So...I noticed there's only one room up there. Who got that?" She tilted her head.

Willie put her hand on Daniel's shoulder. "Oh but we both do Claire." She said sarcastically. "We just crawl in together and spoon up like baby kittens." She rolled her eyes and walked to get mugs from the cupboard.

Daniel laughed. "I'm on the couch Mom."

"Oh well that hardly seems fair." She turned to Wilhelmina. "Why should he get the couch when you can sleep perfectly well hanging upside down from a rafter?"

Claire was taken aback when, instead of the usual cutting reply flying across the room at her, Willie laughed. She had her back to her, but Claire clearly made out the sound of her short laugh. When Willie turned around and brought the mugs back, she still did not offer up a remark in response. Claire took a step back. "Okay...you're freaking me out."

Daniel was rummaging in the fridge and pulled out some cream and picked up a bowl of sugar from the counter. "Huh?"

"HER!" Claire pointed at Willie, who had reached to relieve Daniel of the items he carried. "She...she's all domestic and normal...it's too creepy for words."

Willie rolled her eyes and lifted the brewed coffee pot onto the tray on which Daniel had placed everything else. She let out a long breath. "Fine...uhm...if you want to make these coffees Irish I could always squeeze some alcohol out of you...better?"

Claire nodded and breathed a sigh of relief as she walked in front of Willie, out of the kitchen, while Daniel followed with the tray. "Much."

xXx

Wilhelmina stood back and let Daniel dispense with the coffees. _Not a chance am I waiting on Betty Suarez._ She stood back with her arms folded as Helen twittered on aimlessly about her floral arrangements being featured in the local newspapers or something equally as boring. She watched as Claire leaned back into the place on the couch she had vacated, she was making herself comfortable and clearly not intending on going anywhere any time soon; which made Wilhelmina decidedly _UN-_comfortable_._

Willie knew Claire was loving every minute of this, forcing her to act like the dutiful suburban housewife rather than the woman she was. She smirked as she saw Daniel sit in the one remaining armchair in the room; she could make Claire just as uncomfortable as she was. She picked up her own mug of coffee and crossed the room to where Daniel sat and hit his knee lightly where his legs were crossed. He instinctively uncrossed them and Willie inwardly laughed at Claire's clenched jaw as she proceeded to sit on his lap, hanging her legs off the side of the chair.

Even Daniel had to suppress a chuckle at her actions as his hands rested on top of her thighs, she knew he wouldn't have refused her in front of their neighbours. "Would you like me to get you a chair from the kitchen?" Claire asked through clenched teeth.

Willie tilted her head until it touched Daniel's forehead and circled his neck with her free arm. "No, no, I'm perfectly fine here thanks." She smiled.

Amanda leaned into Marc. "I totally need popcorn for this."

Marc and Amanda were watching the scene with rapturous attention, Betty's eyes were flitting back and forth from Daniel and Wilhelmina to Claire; looking for all the world like she wanted to be back in Queens, or Mode, or anywhere but here.

Claire could feel the veins in her forehead pulsing and her jaw was beginning to hurt from the tension, she tried to rein it back so as not to arouse suspicion from the neighbours, but she wanted to lunge across the room and rip her from her sons lap; she conveniently ignored the fact that he looked perfectly happy with his new position.

Helen cleared her throat, drawing everyone's attention. "I hope you don't mind but I went to the restroom earlier and I got all turned around...ended up in your spare room." She smiled. "It hasn't been decorated since our last neighbours lived here. I know some wonderful decorators who could do you a fabulous job...it must be hard, living with a nursery when you have no kids of your own."

"Oh she hasn't told you?" Amanda burst in suddenly and all eyes turned to her.

Daniel and Willie shot daggers at her, knowing the next thing out the blondes mouth would be anything but good.

"Leigh's pregnant!" She smiled brilliantly at the two dumbstruck, fuming Editors. _That'll teach you not to let me play too._

Helen clapped her hands together. "Oh that's wonderful! About time we had a new baby on the street, and not before time too." She said with a knowing look at Wilhelmina who was too busy glaring at Amanda to notice the slight.

"Are you sure Amanda!" Claire questioned, trying to stay calm. "Are you sure you're not thinking off the FALSE ALARM they had?"

Amanda shook her head. "Oh no, no Leigh told me in the car."

Claire sat back in the chair and brought her hand to her eyes. Marc was clutching at his stomach, the attempt to keep from laughing was giving him cramps and Betty was silently shaking her head, staring open mouthed at Amanda. Helen stood. "Well then! We'll leave you to talk babies and booties with your friends. See you at the cocktail party tomorrow." She pointed at Willie, smiling. "Non-alcoholic for you Mommy!" She walked to the door and snapped, "Howard!" the way you would call a dog and he sauntered behind her opening the door for her before steeping out himself.

As soon as the door closed and hurried footsteps could be heard moving away from the door, Marc jumped in front of Amanda. "Mandy RUN!" He yelled just as Wilhelmina jumped from Daniel's lap, hands outstretched to grab the girl. Amanda shrieked but Daniel was quick on his feet and grabbed Willie round the waist, spinning her away from the confrontation.

"YOU IDIOT!" Willie screamed at her.

Amanda quickly forgot what she had found humorous about the situation as she watched Willie's hands clench into fists and saw the anger contort her face. She looked from Claire to Daniel; both looking equally angry with her. "What exactly we're you thinking Amanda?" Claire chastised her.

"I wasn't." She admitted. "I thought..."

"Thought what?" Daniel asked. "Thought it was funny? We could be here for months! What's gonna happen when a baby doesn't materialize at the end of nine months! Or did you not think of that!"

"No." She admitted sheepishly.

Willie was still silently fuming behind Daniel, "You know what? We shouldn't blame her, she's notoriously dense...if anyone we should blame your mother for bringing her along!"

"I wouldn't have had to bring anyone or even be here myself if you two were able to survive without the finer things in life for more than five minutes!" Claire shouted back at her.

"ENOUGH!" Daniel bellowed before the argument erupted further. "Let's just calm down shall we? Willie, we could be out of here any day...if not...well we'll cross that bridge when we come to it. We need to get organised for this god forsaking gathering tomorrow. Let's just focus on getting the neighbours back on our good side instead of needlessly worrying."

"Needlessly worrying? Daniel you do realise that woman is currently running around this street telling everyone I'm having your kid? Actually no, not your kid, _anyones _kid seen as you painted me as such a whore!" Wilhelmina was getting hysterical, she needed to hit something or someone and looking in front of her she was a veritable bunch of candidates.

"Well at least that part remains true." Claire jibed.

"Oh drop dead, Grandma!" Willie shot back.

xXx

Daniel had sent Wilhelmina out with Marc too cool off and pick up stuff they needed for tomorrow night. She had been too angry too even notice that he was telling her what to do and she had grabbed the car keys and stormed willingly from the house.

She was currently piling Marc's arms with copious amounts of liquor, from the trunk of the car after their return. "You know you could help me carry this!" Marc attempted bravely.

"And risk someone seeing me...in _my _condition?"

"Oh yeah, you can get on board when it suits you." He grumbled.

"You still haven't got the hang of that mumbling thing have you Felicity?"

"Maybe I should go get daddy dearest to help you. After all he wouldn't want his pregnant wife struggling would he?" He looked over the street and narrowed his eyes. "Who's that?"

Wilhelmina turned around to see Jesse bounding towards them. "Okay...you want to tell me why Horrid Helen is telling everyone you're in the family way?" He was positively beaming and turned to Marc before he got an answer. "Pleased to meet you; I'm Jesse, the only neighbour she can tolerate."

Marc shook the proffered hand. "I'm Daniel Meade." He said, remembering his role.

"No you're not...Bob is." Jesse grinned.

"He knows Marc." She sighed, piling Jesse's outstretched arms with the same amount of groceries and alcohol as Marc was carrying.

"Yep!" Jesse grinned at him as they started walking up the drive. "I'm her secret keeper, her confidante; I'm Wilhelmina Slater's gay best friend."

Marc spun round, stopping Jesse. "SAY WHAT!"

"What?" Jesse squinted at him, thinking he was clever.

"No offense Josh..."

"Jesse."

"Whatever...I'm sure you're bitchy and nasty and all the things Willie loves in a queen, but you're like the milk substitute people use when they can't get the real thing. Not ideal, but it'll do in a pinch...I'm the milk, you got me?" He smiled at the imposer.

Jesse turned to Willie, on the doorstep. "Aww...you didn't tell me your puppy was a guard dog."

"Girls." She drew the word out in a warning, Jesse pushed past Marc into the house. When Willie tilted her head, telling him to go inside, he pouted as he walked past. "I can't believe you got another gay."

She rolled her eyes, but inside she was amused at his petulance. "Oh good lord...get in!"

The three of them walked past Claire on the couch, who was reading the one and only issue of Mode which was floating about the house. Willie made a mental note to hide it in case anyone else where to recognise her or Daniel. "Not helping with the preparations?" Willie asked.

Claire flicked a page over. "I don't even do the preparations for my own parties."

"Who's that?" Jesse whispered as they walked to the kitchen.

"Oh that? That's the guardian of the underworld, or we like to call her Claire, she's Daniels mother. " She whispered into his ear. "We hate her."

"Good to know."

The dumped the items on the counter. "Where's Daniel?" Willie asked Betty, who was giving the kitchen the first proper clean it had seen since they had arrived.

"Uh...he's right behind you!" She pointed at Marc, widening her eyes at Willie's mistake while there was an outsider in the room.

Willie snorted. "Marc, explain to Betty...I don't have the energy. Again, where's Daniel?"

Betty pointed outside and Willie walked to the French doors, trying not to laugh when she heard Marc behind her. "Betty this is Jesse, he knows and he thinks he's the new me...do NOT be nice to him!"

When she walked through the doors, she stopped in her tracks. "Oh my..."

Daniel had obviously taken it upon himself to ensure the garden was ready for their farcical little shin-dig. She didn't know where he got the lawnmower, but right now she didn't care as he walked up and down the expansive lawn; his T-shirt was off and tucked into the waist of the jeans he wore and the beating of late afternoon sun had tanned his toned body, the work making rivulets of sweat snake over his pectorals.

Suddenly realising she was staring, she snapped her mouth shut and looked around to make sure she wasn't caught. Amanda was a few meters away from her, at the small outdoor table; luckily she was just as enamoured at the sight of Daniel and she hadn't even noticed Willie join her. The blonde was pouring a glass of iced tea from a large pitcher. "He look thirsty." She leered to no one.

Wilhelmina snatched the glass out of her hand. "Yes he does."

"Hey!" Amanda pouted.

"What? He is _my_ husband after all." Willie walked over to where Daniel had stopped and was mopping his brow with the T-shirt before stuffing it back into the waistband. He took the glass, smiling and drained it; sucking one of the ice cubes into his mouth.

"You're enjoying this aren't you?"

"Maybe." He smiled cockily as he crunched the ice between his teeth. He laughed as he watched her try to stop her eyes from travelling over his muscles. He handed her the glass back and pulled at the cord for the petrol mower. It didn't start, on the second attempt it still wouldn't give a spark of life and on the third, he wrenched that hard that he recoiled, howling in pain.

"SHIT!" He jumped about a bit, clearly in pain, clutching his shoulder.

"What?"

"Pulled a muscle." When he saw her bite her lip in amusement, he whined. "What? It's sore!"

"I'm sure it is, you big manly man." She laughed at his pathetic moaning. "Get in the house."

He kicked the motor off and followed her inside; from the corner of her eye, Willie saw Amanda pout when Daniel tried to put his T-shirt back on. He winced and sucked in a breath when he tried to raise his right arm. Instinctively, Wilhelmina turned to help him and Amanda took a mental step back, noting how neither had seemed shocked when Wilhelmina's fingers had grazed over his skin.

Daniel slumped at the table, looking sorry for himself. Betty walked over, she had seen him hurt his shoulder and maternally rubbed his shoulder. His face twisted in pain and Wilhelmina knew he wasn't enjoying it and would much prefer a softer massage at someone else's hands. _Well he knew what it was like to want then._

Marc swept into the room and banged his bag on the table. "Willie, I brought my laptop so you could write your letter from the Editor, you need to fire off a couple of responses to Ms Mind your own business Myers too...she's doing my pretty curly head in."

Willie nodded at him, trying to formulate the beginnings of her letter in her head. "Aaaaaaaaand." Marc drawled. "I brought you something." He smiled.

Daniel turned hopefully to Betty. "Did you bring me anything! You know that's twice Marc's given Willie stuff." He sounded like a spoiled child.

"Actually I did!" She replied brightly and went to her purse. Daniel rubbed his hands together and held out his hands. When she placed the time in his hands, his good mood evaporated. "I know how your allergies get in the summer." Betty seemed so pleased with herself.

"Antihistamines?"

Betty scrunched her face up, aware this wasn't what he was expecting. "You want my gum?"

Willie shook her head briskly, distracting herself from Betty and Daniel. "Marc?"

Marc sank his hands back into his bag and grinned. With a flourish he pulled his surprise from the bag. "TA-DA!"

"Marc...I love you." She stated, her eyes firmly set on the small vial of clear liquid in one hand and the syringe in the other.

Marc put them behind his back and acted indignant. "Say I'm better than Jesse."

"Oh for God-"

"Saaaaay it!"

She huffed. "Marc St James, you are the best gay a girl could have, the greatest gay in all of the gay bars in all of the world."

He smiled sweetly. "I know."

Willie moved quickly and grabbed Marc by the wrist, pulling him from the room. Seconds later Daniel laughed as he heard the thundering of feet on the stairs. "I think that's the first time a woman has ever dragged Marc upstairs." He stood up and flexed his shoulder, it still hurt but it was better than before. He would still play it up later to Willie though.

"I think we're pretty much ready. If we just get them all hammered they should soon forget what havoc we wreaked at the last one."

"I'm going to make my speciality Amanda-tinis. There like normal Martinis...but vodka instead of olives and extra vodka."

"Sounds yummy." Daniel laughed. "But you guys won't be here...I know that's your game plan, but there's nowhere for you to stay tonight."

Amanda jumped on the counter. "No problem. Mama Meade's booked us all into a hotel...Mode Vacation! Although I wanted to stay here." She stuck out her bottom lip. "Chocolate E-Claire could have had the couch, I could have had the little one, Marc could have smooshed on the two chairs and Betty would be more than comfortable in the bathtub."

Daniel laughed as Betty threw a grape at Amanda's head. "Okay two things. One; I wish I had been there to see my mother's face when you suggested she sleep on a couch." He laughed at the notion. "And two; I'm on the couch anyway."

Amanda jumped down from the counter and walked to him, placing a hand on his shoulder and smiling. "Of course you are."

xXx

Under much protesting from Amanda and Marc, Daniel had managed to bundle the four of them into a cab and pack them off to the hotel for the night. Wilhelmina hadn't came downstairs since she had taken Marc up over an hour ago. Once she heard the car pull from the drive, she came down and peeked out the window, to be sure they had gone.

"So...all topped up with poison?" He asked her, somewhere between amused at her earlier glee and annoyed that she injected that junk into her.

"Yep." She tapped her finger off her forehead. "Dead as Tom Ford's personality."

"You don't need that you know." He said suddenly, catching her off guard.

She scoffed. "Ok Daniel, I'll just go without and watch my face collapse...in this business? Are you kidding me?" She closed the curtains.

"You look fantastic." He reached for her, she slapped his hands away.

"We need to be careful."

"We're alone." He pointed out.

"Maybe we should cool it until they leave tomorrow night?" She stepped into his hold.

"Maybe we should." He agreed as her arms went around his neck. "But you were the one checking me out earlier...and the one who was wriggling about in my lap." He smirked.

"Well, you know pregnancy is supposed to boost the libido." She joked and he laughed.

"Shit I forgot about that...remind me to confiscate all Amanda's goodies and chair...and toilet breaks when we get back."

Her eyes flashed, she pulled him down close and ran her lips over his, inhaling his scent; he was still musty from the work he had done outside. He smirked at her as he lowered his hands to cup her ass and hold her against him. "You think we can get through another day of this?" She asked.

He shrugged. "Sure, we just need to make sure that if it's my Mom or anyone like that, we don't touch each other, look at6 each other or give any indication we want to rip each other clothes off. Simple." He tried to convince himself.

"Yeah..." She replied, pushing her body into his. "...simple."


	11. Chapter 11

It wasn't the fact that she was sleeping with her mortal enemy that freaked her out. It wasn't even the fact that he was sleeping soundly behind her. If anything, you would think it was the fact that when she awoke it was to find him spooned around her, his arms pulling her into his body in the position she had become accustomed to; but it wasn't. What freaked her out, was how NOT freaked out she was by the whole situation.

She turned under his hold and found her face resting close to his on the same pillow. She studied his sleeping features and waited for her brain to realise who it was staring at and to feel the hysteria rushing through her; it never came. She seemed to be completely at ease with the man she now lay with; and that would simply not do.

"I can feel you watching me." He said, without opening his eyes, increasing the pressure at the small of her back to bring her warmth against him.

"Daniel?" She moved her hand lightly over the hair behind his ear, noting how it was growing longer and that she liked it. He lazily opened one eye to look at her, the other one following suit as he took in the consternation on her face as she propped herself up on her elbow.

"Why do I think I'm not going to like what you're about to say?" He mirrored her position, leaning on his elbow but not increasing the distance, still keeping his other arm on her bare skin beneath the cover.

"Why aren't we freaking out?"

He rolled his neck on his hand, stretching the muscles, still tense from sleeping. "You mean because my Mom and the rest of the Brady Bunch have descended on us?"

Despite her confliction she laughed, and noticed how Daniel's lips twitched when she did so, he liked seeing her laugh; he liked _making _her laugh, it was wonderfully new to him. "No...I mean...what you said there 'descended on US' why aren't we freaking out about what we're doing?"

"How do you mean?" He asked, even though he knew patently well what she was talking about, he just chose not to be the one to voice it.

She rolled her eyes and him, knowing that no matter what she had said in the past he wasn't THAT dense. "You know exactly what I mean Daniel. Haven't you noticed that with the exception of our one half-hearted attempt to stop this...we've never questioned it?"

He dropped his hand on the bed and swiftly retracted his arm from her, sitting up straighter. "You're saying you want to stop? You're telling me this now, when I'm in the same bed as you naked...wow, way to exploit a mans vulnerability."

"That's not what I'm saying dumbass...I'm saying, don't you think it's weird that neither of us wants to stop it?"

Daniel shrugged, looking at her with a pained expression, flapping his mouth to find words to say. Again, she rolled her eyes at him. "God Daniel, do I need to spell it out. It's you. It's me. And it's quickly becoming about more than sex...and we're fine with that. That doesn't strike you as odd?" She sat up in the bed and drew her knees to her chest, looping her arms over them on top of the cover.

Daniel chuckled and sat up next to her. "Willie...we are in a police safe house with new identities and have left our legacy in the hands of two junior editors and an ex-alcoholic. Everything about this situation is odd."

"You're not answering my question." She faced him, losing patience at his evasiveness. "Why does this...fit?"

Daniel studied his hands for a second before looking back up at her. It was true, he was sitting in bed with Wilhelmina Slater, he should want to run for the hills, erase it from memory and never let things get that far again. But he felt comfortable, he didn't want to run and he most certainly wanted to keep going. "I'm not answering because I don't have answers. What happened to not analysing this until we had to?"

She bit her lip. "That's just it...I think we have to."

"I gotta admit, I never had you down as one of those 'where is this going' type of women...especially after only three weeks."

She shot him a stare. "It might be only three weeks...but even three seconds should have been too much for us. And three weeks is a hell of a lot when you consider how magnified everything is in our current situation. If this had happened back at Mode...three weeks would barely be a blip on the radar."

"This would have never happened back at Mode." He said gently.

Willie threw her hands up in the air. "Great, now I feel guilty, like I'm happy a poor girl got killed and forced us in to this."

She tried to continue her ramblings but he put a hand on her arm to stop her. "Wait...so you're glad this happened? Not the girl part...but you're happy with this?"

"Do you see me running away?"

Daniel smiled at her and she pushed his shoulder. "See! This is what I mean! Statements like that should never come from our mouths! We should have allergic reactions to the very sight of each other! We shouldn't be comfortable, we shouldn't be happy...not with each other."

He steadied himself again and pulled at her arm so she had to look at him. "I'm only going to say this once, so listen up." She opened her mouth to snap at him for talking to her like that but he clamped a hand over her mouth. "In the past year...we both fell in love, and we both lost it. When I lost Molly...I didn't think I'd even be able to smile again, never mind even think of myself with someone else. I know it was the same for you with Connor. Now I'm not saying this is...you know..._it, _but I'm not going to let something pass me by...no matter who it's with. It's cliché and over used...but life really is too short."

He took his hand away from her mouth. "We've already said this won't work in the city." She told him.

Daniel shrugged and kissed her shoulder, before looking up at her with a glint in his eye. "Unless I'm mistaken...we're not in the city now."

Biting the inside of her cheek to keep from smiling, she relented under his hand and let herself be pushed back against the mattress. He followed on top of her and she angled her head to kiss him, but he avoided it, earning him a raised eyebrow before his mouth latched onto her collarbone, he would never tire of the taste of her skin.

His hands levered him over her body as his head moved in between her breasts, kissing the skin there and again it alarmed her at how quick her body craved more. He let his weight fall on her when he moved his hands to her side and his inquisitive mouth moved over the flat expanse of her stomach. Her hips twitched when his tongue flicked at her navel. Before he could move further, she groaned in annoyance when a loud knock could be heard from downstairs.

"Ignore it." His muffled voice came from against her skin, his lips moving to her side.

"I hate our neighbours." She managed to hiss under her breath while she focussed on Daniels teasing.

"DANIEL!" A voice called from outside.

"YES MOTHER I'M RIGHT HERE...NO NEED TO SHOUT!" Wilhelmina recognised the voice of her former assistant.

They both moved at lightening speed, Daniel jumped up from her body and misjudged his proximity to the edge of the bed, landing on the floor with a crash. Wilhelmina grabbed her robe and covered herself, checking in the mirror, to ensure she didn't appear flushed. They didn't look at each other as they hastily amended their appearance. Yet again, it was as if Daniel's earlier words had evaporated with the arrival of their old selves. Having finally located his underwear, Daniel threw on his boxers and hurtled from the room; leaving Wilhelmina to ensure no trace of him was left behind.

Daniel tried to run down the stairs quickly, yet quietly; it wouldn't do if the people at the door heard him thundering down from Wilhelmina's room. When he reached the bottom he silently thanked the Gods that he and Wilhelmina had the presence of mind to shut the drapes of the living room, the night before. Delving behind the armchair in the corner, her pulled out the sheets and pillows that had been hidden there and threw them haphazardly on the couch. He jumped on them for a couple of seconds, twisting and turning on them to give them the impression they had been slept on; dimly registering that he used to do the same in his bed when he snuck in from all night parties as a teen...his mother hadn't bought it then.

Another knock came from the door. "Bob...Leigh..." The names came out as a snarl and Daniel knew his mother was talking through clenched teeth, hating the idea of him locked inside with Wilhelmina. He jumped from the couch, satisfied with the appearance of the covers and pulled at his hair to give himself noticeable bed head. Taking a deep breath, to relieve his breathlessness, he moved to the door. With one downward glance to make sure his..._evidence..._had dissipated, he opened the door and made a show of yawning loudly and stretching. "Mom...guys...you're here early."

"It's almost noon Daniel." Betty informed him as the group filed past him.

"Really?" He was genuinely surprised, he seemed to have no concept of time when they were cooped in their own world.

"Yes really." His mother snapped and rounded on him, leaning her hand on the back of the couch. Daniel's breath caught when he saw her look at the makeshift bed on the couch. She quickly turned her gaze back to Daniel. "Wilhelmina not up yet?" She asked him pointedly.

"Guess not." He shrugged.

"Actually" Wilhelmina's voice came from the top of the stair and they all looked up as they heard the footfalls descending. "I've been up for hours."

She came into sight fully clothed, well _–ish_, she had on a pale yellow halter top and (yes, you've guessed it) more denim, this time though it was shorts that appeared to have been painted on her, still coupled with stilettos of course, which only accentuated the length of her legs. She stopped at the bottom of the stairs and noticed everyone in the room staring at her legs. "Stop it...it's all I have left thanks to genius over there breaking the washer."

"If you've been up then why didn't you answer the door?" Amanda asked, in full knowledge as to why she didn't.

"And risk finding Daniel wishing himself a happy good morning? I don't think so." She looked at Daniel and scrunched her face up as if seeing him for the first time. "Dear God...thank the lord I don't eat breakfast, put some clothes on."

Daniel looked down at his semi-nakedness and suddenly felt very awkward amongst the fully dressed group in the room. He hurried past them and bolted up the stairs. Wilhelmina lifted the sheets from the couch, distaste painted on her face, and balled them up, throwing them back behind the chair.

"I don't know why you think you're coming to this excuse for a party tonight...because you're not. You have already missed a full day at Mode yesterday and with Daniel and I gone you can't afford to be away."

Claire folded her arms. "It's Saturday Wilhelmina, offices are closed."

"What about the work you missed yesterday? Just who was running the place? If we come back to find you've let our magazine go to the dogs..."

"What's with the '_we' _and '_our'_?" Claire interrupted her. "You've never been so keen on sharing before."

"It's different now they're sharing something else." Amanda mumbled and Marc stamped on her foot.

Claire narrowed her eyes at Amanda, she had been more than aware of the girls view regarding her son and 'the soulless one' for some time now, she returned to look at Wilhelmina. "We gave full instructions to the senior editors before we left, I'm sure they handled the 9 office hours, which they were in charge for, admirably. After all, you hand picked them."

Wilhelmina inhaled deeply through her nose, "Fine...but I don't see why you four have to stay. With the cock-up you made yesterday and Marc having to pretend to be Daniel, you could mess this whole thing up for us."

"And what _thing_ would that be?" Claire asked, a horrible suspicion overcoming her. She knew Amanda was more intelligent than people gave her credit for and there was something off with the whole set up in this house.

"Our cover, what do you think?" Wilhelmina asked, silently thanking her mother for the acting skills she passed down to her.

xXx

Later in the afternoon, and after much fighting that they couldn't simply give their guests alcohol as this wasn't Manhattan, Wilhelmina had conceded and let Daniel and Betty light a barbecue; as long as they didn't come near her with anything they made and kept the smoke away from her. Betty had no idea how to control the wind but they had promised.

Wilhelmina sat at the outside table with Marc, putting the finishing touches to her letter from the Editor and firing off a couple of bitchy emails to Robbie to make sure she stopped needling Marc for information. She exaggeratedly hit the enter button. "DONE!"

Marc stared at the screen as the document closed and tilted his head. "That was...different."

"Excuse me?"

He looked at her. "Your letter, it...I don't know...didn't have the same 'listen to me or I'll eat you' vibe to it."

She scoffed. "What are you talking about? It was a precise and succinct as ever." She dared him to contradict her.

"Oh, no, I know." He quickly corrected himself. "I just mean...the content, it seemed a bit..." He searched for the word. "Wistful?"

"Wistful?" She repeated, taking a long drink from the Martini she had made Marc prepare, knowing she was unable to drink in front of her neighbours that evening; thanks to Amanda.

Marc picked up the laptop. "I don't know, ignore me." He stood up. "You want me to let Daniel have the once over of this?"

"No!" She said hurriedly. "I mean...no, there's no need. My word should be final."

Marc sat back down slowly. "Willie, was this...is it about him?"

"Don't be absurd." She laughed. "This situation has just forced me to take stock of some thing...about what's important in this life. It has nothing to do with Daniel Meade." The finality in her voice was apparent.

Marc nodded, although unconvinced, and went to put his laptop inside. On the way past he grabbed Amanda's elbow as she came out of the French doors and pulled her back inside. "I think you're right."

Off to the side, Claire watched the exchange between Marc and Amanda as she set plates and glasses on another table on the lawn. Her gaze travelled from them over to Daniel and Betty who were trying, and failing to light to barbecue. She didn't know much about the outdoors but she did now they should have got gas instead of that charcoal monstrosity which Daniel was copiously squirting lighter fluid over.

With slow even footsteps, she walked over to where Wilhelmina still sat and painstakingly tried to ignore that the younger woman was trying to mask the fact that she kept looking at Daniel. "Shouldn't you be helping your _husband_? This is your party after all...your chance for the neighbourhood to get to know the Johnsons."

Wilhelmina leaned back in the deck chair and put a hand on her stomach. "The smoke will set off my morning sickness." She said, sarcastically, with a smirk.

Claire bit her lip and nodded, sitting next to her. "I have an awful feeling you two are getting too into your roles." She let the unspoken question hang in the air.

Wilhelmina sipped from the drink and looked around for Marc to tell him to get her another. "We are merely making the best of a bad situation, would you rather have come here to find us both in a pool of blood?"

Claire tried to process her answer. Did Wilhelmina know what she had really been saying? Was she reading between the lines or was she just being straight with her? Was Wilhelmina ever straight with anyone?

"Maybe...maybe this is good. Maybe it will force some harmony between you two. The reasons which brought you here were tragic, no one is disputing that; but we must take our silver linings where we can find them.

xXx

By six pm, the neighbourhood had converged in their back garden Jesse and Marc were trying to outdo each other by waiting on Willie's every request and Daniel chuckled when every time it looked as if Jesse was succeeding, Marc would sidle up to James, making Jesse rush from his post at Willie's side. Daniel had watched her accept congratulations from every neighbour who passed her and she was now sat alone, with a strange expression. The chuckle died on his lips, all this talk of Amanda's phantom baby was more than likely making Wilhelmina think of her own child, and the young woman who bared her likeness who they had seen meet a violent end.

He walked over to her and crouched down in front of her, he placed a hand over hers and shook her from her trance; he wasn't concerned about his mother or their friends seeing, he knew he could pass it off as keeping up appearances to the suburbanites. "Hey...you ok?"

She nodded at him. "I'm fine...in desperate need of a drink but I'm fine."

He laughed. "Meet me in the kitchen in ten and I'll try and slip you something."

"You still talking about a drink?" She questioned him quietly, making them both laugh.

For the second time that day, Daniel noted how he loved being able to make her smile; not smirk at some dastardly deed she had perpetrated against him, not sneer at his latest idea, but really smile. His eyes stayed on her lips too long and her smile fell. "Not here Daniel." She whispered.

He swallowed. "What...it's not like we're not supposed to."

She grinned again. "Ok...you explain to your mother."

He laughed and stood up, she stood with him and one of her heels got wedged in the grass and she fell against him. She looked up at him and that dangerous look was back, it was one thing to keep up appearances, but this sudden contact should have made them both recoil as far as Claire was concerned and they both prayed she wasn't watching. Looking up to see if they were being observed, Wilhelmina exhaled in relief when she saw Marc had engaged Claire in conversation, her back to them but Marc giving her a pointed look over Claire's head.

Amanda was sipping from her umpteenth 'Amandatini' and critiquing Betty's methods at the barbecue; the young girl in question was sputtering through the smoke which bellowed from it as she dumped blackened steaks on the serving platters. When she finished locating them all, she realised she hadn't extracted herself from Daniels hold and he was doing nothing to end the contact either.

She was staring pointedly at Daniel's chest, resolutely not looking into his eyes, when she felt stares upon her. Looking up, she saw that both she and Daniel were practically being circled by the neighbours in their garden. Most of whom were standing in couples and smiling at them. "Aw isn't that sweet? Eight years and still so close." One of them, whose name escaped Willie, said, and the rest murmured in agreement.

"So..." Jesse began. "I was just telling everyone that the thing at Helen's was a big ol' misunderstanding." He gestured the crowd with a wine glass in hand.

Wilhelmina smiled a thank you to him for throwing them this life preserver. Daniel chuckled and tightened the arm around Willie, seeing no need to relinquish now that they were in the middle of their 'act'. "Yes...uh...sorry about that. It's just the warped sense of humour we had instilled in us from living in the big cities, been out of touch for too long."

"So you don't have an open marriage then?" One of the husbands asked, slightly crestfallen and earned himself a jab from his wife's elbow.

"No." Wilhelmina's arm snaked further around Daniel's waist. "Completely exclusive."

"And I take it given your recent news, that Bob's 'problem' was a little fib too?" The woman who they recalled was named Trina asked.

"Uh...yeah...was just..." Willie shrugged. "Getting him back."

"Oh you two...such kidders!" Jesse exclaimed, smiling knowingly.

"Yeah...we're a laugh riot." Daniel deadpanned.

Another of the wives scuttled forward. "So come on...you left so abruptly the last time, we hardly found out anything about you! How did you two meet? What brings you to our fair street?"

Daniel and Wilhelmina looked at each other, they had straightened out they story they would tell people but this would be the first, and hopefully last, time they told it. "Why don't you tell it honey, you're much better at it." Willie said brightly.

Daniel smiled down at her but she felt the sharp pinch in her side as he admonished her for putting him on the spot. "Of course sweetheart." He said forcefully, but faltered as he saw Amanda, Marc, Betty and, lastly, his mother, drawing closer to the crowd, obviously intrigued by what he was about to say.

"Well...uh...it was a little over nine years ago. I had a new client, very wealthy, powerful sort and I was called to meet him at his home. I was terrified, I had never had such a high profile client on my books and when I came into his house I was a wreck...could barely say my own name." He paused to let them chuckle politely.

"So anyway, I was shown into this huge drawing room and told he would be with me shortly, that his family had surprised him with a visit. I was so pent up about the meeting I saw it as an excuse to leave and reschedule...but they were having none of it. I'm glad they didn't let me leave though...next thing the door opens and his daughter comes in, trying to get away from the family gathering, we all know how they can be right?" More tinkles of laughter.

"She looks me up and down and as soon as her eyes hit mine I was calm. I knew that even if I didn't land this guy it was worth coming to this intimidating house just for that moment." He heard the females in the crowd 'aww' and saw his mother and the Modies roll their eyes and Marc gagging, it hadn't sounded nearly as sentimental as when they had concocted it.

"Without even one word to me, her father comes in to greet me and she left the room. To this day I can't remember what I said in that meeting, but I got the account and he asked me to join him for a drink. As soon as I could I made my way to find her, introduced myself; said some of the cheesiest chat up lines I knew...each one she shot down by the way, but I wouldn't leave until I got her to agree to see me...six months later, I proposed."

"So soon!" Jesse shouted and Willie rolled her eyes at him getting caught up in the fake story although he knew the truth.

Daniel laughed. "Why waste time when you know it's right...life's too short." He looked down at Willie. "Right?"

She swallowed, trying to appear happy in his arms, and with his words, for the strangers in their yard; but uncomfortable and bored to the people who knew her, it was no easy task. "Right." She answered quietly.

She could feel Claire's eyes boring holes in both her and Daniel and delicately tried to increase the distance between them, but Daniel wrapped his arm tighter and kept her against him, making her lose her balance and bring a hand to his chest to steady herself.

"And now baby makes three." Someone said sweetly.

"Yeah." Daniel exhaled, still uncomfortable with this added complication.

"Had you guys been trying for a while?" Another voice asked.

"Yeah." Daniel answered, without elaborating, opting to keep it simple.

"When did you find out?"

"Just a couple of days ago."

"Oh well that explains it!" Helen hiccupped loudly, clearly three sheets to the wind; she had been drinking Amanda's concoctions.

"Explains what?" Daniel asked.

"Well..." Helen laughed, drunkenly. "I know I should be discreet but we're amongst friends." The gathering turned to listen to her and she was in her element. "Howard here is, as you know, on the neighbourhood watch, aren't you Howard?"

"Yes dear."

Helen laughed again, scolding her husband. "Silly man...they were trying for a baby, they're not just mindless animals!" She exclaimed.

Willie and Daniel went rigid, not liking where this was going at all. "What are you talking about?" One neighbour asked.

Helen continued laughing. "These two! Howard's route goes right through the path connecting these houses...the sights he has seen! Can't keep their hands off each other...insatiable, the pair of them!" She laughed loudly and took another big drink.

The neighbours gawped at her for sharing this highly personal information and looked at Howard with disdain, his unwitting wife having just painted him as the resident peeping tom. With murmurs of 'she's drunk' and 'he's a pervert' they dispersed, giving 'The Johnsons' sympathetic looks after having their intimate life spilled for all to know.

Jesse looked like he was in seventh heaven as James pulled him away. Amanda was smiling widely, Marc was behind her, pulling on his bottom lip with two fingers and Betty looked, well, surprised, but that could also be due to the fact she burned her eyebrows off standing over the grill; something told them she would look just as shocked if she still had them. After a moments silence, Claire wordlessly stomped to the house.

Daniel and Wilhelmina dropped their arms and followed her, as soon as they were through the swinging door and into the living room, Claire spun around and began hitting her sons head and shoulders furiously. "You...stupid...stupid...moron...idiot...stupid!"

"MOM! MOM! STOP!" He tried to shield herself from her blows. Wilhelmina moved forward and grabbed Claire's flailing hands, getting a couple of smacks herself in the process. When she had Claire restrained, the woman began to calm and when she realised who was holding her she shrugged from the grip violently. "Don't you touch me!"

She stood toe to toe with Daniel, he had never seen her look so mad. "You...and...and..." she pointed behind her to Wilhelmina. "...THAT!"

"Mom, calm down."

"CALM DOWN! You know Amanda kept going on and on...but I thought, no, not my son, not with her...how stupid of me. How stupid of YOU!"

"Claire..."

"You shut the hell up or there will be another murder for you to worry about." She snarled.

"Mom, you don't understand..."

"Don't give me that shit, Daniel Emerson Meade! I understand perfectly...you would rather lie with the devil than go without! Do you remember who she is? WHAT she is?"

Daniel nodded, Claire shook her head and gave a bitter laugh. "And still you have sex with her."

Daniel winced at his mother saying the words aloud. Claire grabbed her coat from the chair and the door behind them creaked open; Marc, Amanda and Betty peering through. "Betty...call a cab." She said quietly, never taking her eyes from her son.

"I already did." She said meekly.

"Fine...let's wait for it outside will we?" It sounded like a question but the three friends knew it was anything but as they filed past the three people at a stand-off in the lounge. Betty looked briefly at Daniel and tried to convey her worry through her eyes, but Daniel read only disappointment, which made him feel heavier than he already did.

On his way past, Marc ran his hand down Willie's arm and squeezed. Amanda looked at neither of them and just hurried after Marc. Once all three were out of the house, Claire put her jacket on and turned to leave, she stopped in front of Wilhelmina. "I told you today...I hoped some good could come of this, a friendship, a civility...not this, this is sick...this is my son." Her voice was trembling as she fought to contain her rage.

She walked briskly to the door, Daniel took great strides across the room and spun her around as she stood on the threshold. "Mom wait-"

"Daniel you are an adult...you're big enough to make your own decisions, good and bad; devastatingly bad. But for your own sake, whatever this is..." She stared at Wilhelmina.

"...do not bring it back with you."


	12. Chapter 12

The door shut behind Claire, and Daniel remained staring at it until he heard the faint sounds of car doors closing and an engine disappearing down the street. When he turned to look at Wilhelmina, to catch her eyes and have her communicate to him that all was not as bad as it seemed; she kept her stare on the floor and moved from her spot quickly, pushing the swing door violently and storming through it.

Daniel ran his hand over his tired face and cursed to himself under his breath, he thought his mother had been angry with him when he had allied himself with Wilhelmina to usurp Cal Hartley, the frostiness he had received then, however, felt like a warm hug compared to the chill he had felt when she looked at him after the evenings revelations.

He looked around the room and suddenly felt like what he really was; a stranger in someone else's home. He was as far removed from his life as it was possible to get and he had let himself find comfort in the only familiar thing he had; Wilhelmina. His mother was right, of course, they could not take it back with them, they had already agreed as much; but could he continue on this path until they returned to New York? Would it be different now it was known what they were doing? Even if they stopped now it would do nothing to relieve the betrayal he knew his mother felt and would never erase the disappointment he had seen in Betty's eyes.

Figuratively standing back from the situation, he could see what the four sets of eyes upon them earlier had seen; that he was sharing his bed with a woman who tried every conceivable way to drag his family to hell and back and had succeeded many times. Even Marc, who loved Willie in his own warped, therapy requiring way, knew that this match was unsettling and wrong; and Amanda, who had always been the first to hand with the flippant sexual jibes about their tempestuous relationship, had looked like she couldn't quite believe she had been right.

He wasn't a strong or as closed off as Wilhelmina, when they returned she would simply block out what had happened between them and shoot anyone down if they dared mention it; he, on the other hand, would be unable to escape the chagrin of his family and friends.

He looked at the door, no longer swinging on its hinges, and willed her to walk back through it; to face it with him and deal with it the way they had dealt with everything since they had been thrown in this situation; together.

It stayed closed.

xXx

In the kitchen, Wilhelmina took a deep drink of the cocktail in the pitcher Marc had prepared, no longer caring if those idiots outside saw her; to hell with the facade. Jesse slid open the screen door quietly and beyond him Willie could see the curious glances of the neighbours peering in, hoping for a peek at whatever confrontation was going on. He slid it closed behind him and the voices outside were instantly muffled.

"You okay?"

With another drink of the far too fruity mixture her far too fruity friend had made, she grimaced. "Jesse I'm really not in the mood for another one of your 'Oh my God, you and Daniel' moments."

He tilted his head and walked to her, refilling her glass from the pitcher on the counter. "I wasn't gonna-" She arched her brow. "Okay I was, but I won't."

"Could you all hear that?" She asked, afraid that their cover was blown and also afraid that if it was they would start looking into who she really was and revel in the fact that she had been seduced by her rival.

He shook his head. "I am the master of the diversion, as soon as I heard voices I burst into an extremely ear splitting rendition of Rose's Turn and shoved James over to the barbecue...he may have caught his sleeve on fire, but he'll get over it." He giggled.

Try as she might, she couldn't even let this strangely comforting young man lift her spirits at the moment. "Can you get rid of them for me?" She asked, without looking at him.

Jesse studied the profile of her face and nodded. "Sure, what will I tell...I'll think of something."

He slipped back out the door, leaving her alone with her thoughts, which she did not want to be alone with at all. She had always loved being the one to cause such anger to burn in Claire Meade's eyes, but not this time. This time she felt unclean, exposed and vulnerable; three things Wilhelmina Slater was never supposed to feel. Now no matter what happened in these walls for the remainder of her stay, she would still eventually return to a world where it would be known she had lain in the arms of the man she had tried to foil. As if that humiliation wouldn't burn enough, she felt the added stab that they would all take it as her being her usual domineering, contemptible self; taking what she wanted and then leaving everyone else to pick up the pieces. She knew she would let them think this, she would never let them think it was anything deeper than that, she would never let them know that Daniel was becoming a weakness.

As the sounds outside quietened, she allowed herself to walk to the French doors and peeked outside, the only figures she could see outside were Jesse and James. Jesse was dumping the charred food, a la Suarez, in trash bags and James extinguished the barbecue. James waved his hand in front of his face to clear the billowing smoke that erupted as he doused the coals with water, not realising he could safely let them burn out. As the smoke cleared, he saw her standing watching him and raised his hand in a considerate wave and smiled sympathetically at her, she knew that by the morning this man would know her secret; she couldn't truly blame Jesse for telling him and she dimly hoped that James showed as much integrity as his partner, though to be honest part of her didn't even care.

She watched James walk to Jesse and put an arm around his shoulders, leading him from the yard. She saw a light reflect in the glass as the door opened behind her. Taking a deep breath she turned to Daniel, who kept his distance, standing at the door.

"I'm sorry." She said, before she could control the words jumping from her mouth.

"What?"

"I said...you know what I said, don't make me repeat it."

His hands went to his hips as he studied her. "For what? It wasn't you who was playing voyeur."

"Nobody would have seen anything...if there had been nothing to see."

He took a step towards her, still with hands on hips. "So what exactly are you apologising for?"

Wilhelmina fixed her eyes on Daniel's probing ones. "For letting this happen."

He laughed, mirthlessly. "It was hardly against my will was it? I let it happen too."

She folded her arms and set her mouth firm. "True, but I should have stayed stronger...I relented to my basal instincts too easily, knowing you're more likely to go to the moon than keep it in your pants."

"You think I don't know what you're doing?" He laughed. "Trying to piss me off so we'll fight and stay away from each other? Rookie move Willie."

Striding quickly from her place at the window, she snapped at him. "I don't need an excuse to stay away from you."

She tried to push past him, through the door, but as she passed he roughly cupped the back of her neck and pulled her to him, crushing her lips with his own. It took only a split second for her to respond, the two of them moaning through the kiss as their mouths worked against each other. The notion of ending this had only lasted a little over thirty minutes and that was still thirty minutes too long.

He pulled back from the kiss with an audible smack of lips and still held her neck, keeping her close, searching her eyes in the hope that they would reveal what they should do next; hers searched back, looking for the same. "Don't..." He whispered.

"Don't what?" He voice was equally quiet.

"Don't make this worse than it already is...don't make me go back there hating you again."

Wilhelmina reached up behind her neck and pulled his hand away, holding it down by their sides. Without letting go, she opened her mouth to say something, but for the life of her she didn't know what and snapped it closed again. Daniel widened his eyes, prompting her to respond. She weighed the options in her mind; shoot him down and they could go back to the battle partners they were before, and hate each other with a brand new vigour; or admit to herself that she found something in him she had never found in anyone before. She swallowed and stared straight in his eyes.

She nodded.

Moving backward, she kept a hold of his hand and brought him with her through the door and turned at the foot of the stair, her hand now twisted behind her so she could keep his in her grasp. Silently she led him upstairs and into what she couldn't really deny had become _their_ bedroom. She released his hand and walked to the dresser as he closed the door behind him.

Willie fussed much longer than usual with the accessories adorning her, placing them methodically on the wood before her. Daniel approached her slowly and ran the tips of his fingers down her upper arms and inclined his head to kiss the curve in her neck. She leaned into it as Daniel's hands worked at the knot at the top of the halter she wore, once undone he pulled the fabric down to her waist and popped the button on the top of the almost non-existent shorts she had dressed herself in that morning. Daniel pushed both the top and the shorts over her hips and they pooled around her feet; kicking off the stilettos, she stepped out of the ensemble and turned in his arms, clad only in her strapless bra and underwear.

As he moved to capture her lips, she stopped him by grabbing his biceps and he questioned her with his eyes.

She shook her head, ever so slightly. "I don't feel...not tonight. I'm not stopping this but just...not now."

Daniel pushed aside his own need and nodded, not understanding, but accepting. He stepped away from her body. "I'll sleep downstairs." His voice was resigned.

Wilhelmina reached her hands out and pulled her back to him, pulling the hem of the white T-Shirt he wore and lifting it up and off his torso, discarding it on top of her own clothes. Daniel's face was a picture of confusion when she began unfastening his pants, pushing them down until he kicked them off with his bare feet.

When he was standing only in his boxers, she stepped around him and pulled the comforter back on the bed and slipped between the sheets. Willie watched him watching her, the corner of her mouth lifted slightly. "I still want you to stay Daniel." Saying those words to _him_ caused more damage to her psyche that she would have thought possible, but she forced down the devil on her shoulder that chastised her for such a moment of weakness.

Daniel, for his part, was aware that such an admission coming from her lips was a big deal, a HUGE fucking deal. With measured steps, he moved to the bed and lifted the corner of the sheets. As he joined her on the bed and she felt the dip in the mattress from his weight, she turned on her side as she felt his breath on the back of her neck and his arm draped over the curve of her hip, resting on her stomach and pulling her into the heat of his body.

He could feel her body was rigid under his touch and knew this was a new level of intimacy between them. He felt the same fear she did, but he placed a kiss against her shoulder to help allay both their worries. With the touch of his lips on her skin, he felt her notably relax and she allowed her hand to move over his and wove her fingers with his against her stomach.

As Daniel marvelled at how she seemed to fit against him perfectly, and at how they had never noticed it before, he became aware of the deep even breaths from her side of the bed and smiled when he realised she was asleep. He rested his head next to hers and concentrated on the rise and fall of her body under his touch. He tried to think of how he could possibly let this go; before he could come up with an answer, he was asleep.

xXx

Betty, Marc and Amanda were squashed in the back seat of the cab, while Claire sat stoically in the front; next to the driver who had protested vehemently at the prospect of a three and a half hour fare, until Claire had shot him a withering stare and deposited a stack of bills in his lap.

An hour into the drive and no one had spoken a word, although all four clearly had the same topic screaming through their minds. The serious thoughts had sent Amanda on a downer, and as a result her head was spinning with a combination of the events of the nights and the copious amounts of vodka she had consumed. She rolled the window down to get some air and clear her head. The icy blast that hit them all, as the car sped along the interstate, seemed to wake up the inhabitants of the car.

Marc opened his mouth to speak, Claire caught his eyes in the rear-view mirror and didn't give him the chance to utter a word.

"Don't." She snarled. "Don't any of you mention either of their names, don't speak about it...don't even think about it."

Marc closed his mouth again and leaned back in the seat, busying himself with rubbing Amanda's back as she turned and angled her head out the open window. Betty nervously chewed the corner of her mouth and Marc rolled his eyes at her, knowing she was about to speak even though Claire had just ordered them to be silent.

"Ms Meade..."

"I said don't Betty."

"I know...but...you don't think this is-"

"No." She snapped, cutting her off. "Whatever you're about to say the answer is no. I don't think this is anything other than my son taking the majority of his genes from his father, and Wilhelmina using anything in her arsenal to cause me and mine yet more pain."

"But..." Betty approached the subject tentatively. "If that were the case...why wouldn't Wilhelmina have rubbed your face in it?"

"Nice visual Betty." Marc whispered in her ear."

"What I mean is, why wouldn't she have seized every opportunity to get under your skin and come right out and tell you? Why did she pull you away when you went after Daniel? She didn't have that 'cat that got the cream' look she always wears when she gets one up one people. Why would she-"

"Betty, I don't know why that woman does anything!" Claire sought Betty's eyes in the mirror and held her stare. "But if you're suggesting that..._it_...has feelings for my son, I'd rethink that sentiment rapidly if I were you."

Betty saw the conviction in Claire's eyes, she simply would not even contemplate the idea of Daniel and Wilhelmina, Betty nodded and sat back again. Marc wound the window back up and pulled the, now snoring, drunk girl against his shoulder and shot Betty a reproachful look.

"I suggest we go home, use tomorrow to detox this weekend from the Twilight Zone from our systems and come in on Monday bright eyed and bushy tailed!" Marc stated brightly, trying to lift the atmosphere in the car.

"Deal." Betty agreed.

"Deal...we'll say no more about it" Claire said reluctantly.

Marc jostled Amanda on his shoulder. "Amanda?"

The girl snorted loudly in her sleep and mumbled. "Deal...right after this dream."

xXx

Wilhelmina was a notoriously restless sleeper, Connor had told her as much; on several mornings, after being beaten by her nocturnal tossing and turning. Daniel had become used to being awoken at 3 or 4 in the morning with an elbow colliding with his temple or a heel smacking off his shin. He was pleasantly surprised when he opened his eyes and focussed on the clock on her side of the bed and saw that it read 8am, he was even more surprised when he found his hand still entwined with hers, resting on the same place; their bodies not having moved at all throughout the night.

Sleeping in such close proximity, her deep breathing making her move against him as they slept, had led him to wake up feeling rather..._uncomfortable_. She gave a low moan in her sleep as she exhaled and she twisted against him slightly. Daniel stifled a noise of his own and squeezed his eyes shut, cursing the effect she was having on him; if only because there was nothing he could do to relieve it.

He carefully tried to inch his body back from hers and slowly began to detangle his hand from hers; just as his fingers began to loosen, Wilhelmina clutched them tighter and held them still against the heat of her stomach and pushed backward until her body was once again pressed to his. Daniel gasped at the contact of the small of her back, pressed against his painful need, and raised his head slightly to peer over her shoulder.

She was awake.

Willie let go of his hand, leaving his still on her skin, and reached behind her, to grasp his hip, pushing him tighter against her. Daniel lowered his head to the curve of her neck and smirked against her skin before kissing the sensitive spot beneath her ear, making her tilt her head to allow better access. He continued, kissing and nipping the skin, until he heard her breathing become shallow. He couldn't take the time he wanted, not when she kept gyrating her hips against him like that.

As Daniels mouth moved upward, to take an earlobe between his teeth, his hand left its home on her stomach and trailed south, his fingers insistently dipping under the edge of her underwear. Daniel, forgoing the usual teasing he so loved to torment her with, pressed his fingers against her urgently, wanting her to need this as much as he did in that moment. She did not disappoint, her body arched at the first contact, increasing the pressure against the hardness at her back. The hand on his hip was gripping harder, he could feel the nails digging in his skin thorough the fabric. She grabbed the material in her hand and tried to tug it downward, her current position on her side facing away from him, meaning she could do little but pull it a couple of inches. Daniel pulled his invading hand away from her and she audibly complained at the loss of the sensations washing over her.

Daniel worked quickly, removing his underwear hastily, before hooking his fingers in the side of hers and sliding them down her legs and off to join his; discarded and forgotten. He pressed himself behind her again and her hips rocked against him. Latching his lips to the base of her neck again, he grabbed her thigh and pulled it towards him, he positioned himself behind her. She gasped loudly when Daniel bit down on her neck as he slipped inside her.

He kept his movements slow, his hand steadying her hip, rhythmic but deep as he pushed forward as she pushed back against him, in perfect time. Daniel let his tongue cool the small bruise he had made on her neck and brought his hand in between them, to the middle of her back and unclasped the bra still encasing her. When it opened under his hands, he tossed it somewhere out of sight and brought his hand from her hip to cup her breast; caressing in time to his thrusts.

Daniel was propped up on the elbow under him, looking over her side to watch the expressions on her face as she lost herself in their wanton act. He couldn't help the smile that formed when he saw her squeezing her eyes shut and biting her lip; relishing the fact that he, of all people, could drive her to the edge.

He had unconsciously quickened his pace, or she had, he didn't know, but they were both moving against each other more forcefully and he felt her begin to stiffen against his body. He didn't know if he was even still moving of his own accord, or if it was the hand she had returned to his hip which seemed to be dragging him into her with more vigour.

Daniel felt his own muscles start to burn and as he looked down upon her face, she turned her head toward the pillow as the intensity of it overcame her. Her breathing lost any sense of a pattern and she was no longer under her own control, he watched the flush creep up her body and moved harder against her; the increase in pressure made her whip her head round, Daniel seized his chance and crashed his mouth onto hers. He felt her cry out against his lips and she shuddered against him, her body still shaking when he followed her in his own climax; his hands gripping her, lips still assaulting hers as he came.

As breathing slowed, and bodies cooled, the kiss became softer and he continued to rock against her; gently bringing them both down from their highs.

"Good morning." He mumbled against her lips.

"Morning." She whispered back, then exhaled deeply. "Can I replace my alarm clock with you?"

Daniel chuckled, making his body vibrate against hers and she joined him in a small laugh. He pulled his head away from where he was running his lips along her neck line and they locked eyes with each other. He could wake her up like this every morning if he wanted to...but only here...moments like this would never exist again when they were back in New York; back in their office in the sky.

The laughter swiftly died.

xXx

Monday morning and true to her word, Claire had breezed in as if nothing was amiss. She hadn't looked Amanda, Marc or Betty in the eye; not wanting to see her son's stupidity reflected back at her in their eyes.

She listened to the clicking of her own heels as she made her way down to the conference room. She had spoken to one of her, _judicially challenged _friends as she liked to call them. Prison bitches just didn't carry the same air. She had arranged for the woman's son to come into the office and speak to her for her real life piece for next months issue. It had no fashion angle whatsoever and Wilhelmina would hate it; precisely why it _had_ to be in the issue.

The man and his girlfriend were standing in the conference room waiting on her. She introduced herself and went over the outline for the piece.

"Do I know you, you seem very familiar?" She asked the young man.

"Nope, don't think so Ma'am." He answered politely.

Claire tilted her head and smiled. "You must just bear a resemblance to your mother." She looked in the plastic file she was holding. "I'm so sorry, I appear to have left the contract in my office...do you mind?"

"Not at all." He smiled at her and followed her from the room, down the circular halls and into her office.

Claire walked behind her desk and lifted the contract, revealing another sheet of paper underneath it. She looked at the paper and then back to the man in front of her and paled. It was the photo fit that the police had sent her. The photo fit of the man who had shot at her son and Wilhelmina.

The photo fit of the man standing in her office.


	13. Chapter 13

Claire kept the smile frozen on her face and hastily covered the picture again. She looked back up at the young man and prayed he couldn't hear the hammering of her heart or the rushing sound she heard roaring through her ears. When she forced her eyes to meet his, she couldn't read anything behind them; he remained smiling at her politely.

Dismissing the instinct to grab the phone, dial 911 and scream into the receiver, Claire made a show of perusing the contract in her hand at great length, trying desperately to calm herself and stop her hands giving even the slightest shake that would draw her companion's attention to her unease.

"I apologise Mr...?" She paused to allow him to fill the blank.

"Walker...Calvin Walker."

"I'm sorry of course it is." She forced herself to emit a small laugh; he knew the name of her former cellmate's son, had he intercepted him somehow? Had he hurt him? "I apologise Mr Walker, there seems to be a page missing from your contract...I'll just print another copy."

She leaned over the console and angled the screen towards her face and moved the mouse with a real effort to stop her fingers trembling. The young man just stared at her, Claire could feel every hair on her neck stand on end and a lump rose in her throat as she glided the cursor over her email. Clicking it open she typed a short message, keeping it deliberately short so as not to arouse suspicion.

**To: **_StJames, Marc; Suarez, Betty; TanenSommers, Amanda_

**Subject:**_ POLICE!URGENT!_

_Call Det. Harper NOW! Gunman HERE!_

The cursor slowly moved to the 'send' button. "Ms Meade...stop."

The three words turned her to stone on the spot, with more strength than she had ever used in her life she craned her neck to look at the man she could now only think of as a killer; she half expected to be looking down the barrel of a gun. Instead, the young man had his hand extended to her and was smiling.

"I think you dropped this." He held a small cluster of pearls in his hand.

Claire brought her hand up to her ear, she was missing an earring. "Oh...th-thank you." She stammered and reached out to take it. As her clammy hand touched his, his grabbed it firmly and Claire gasped in fright. Calvin brought his other hand up to cover their joined ones and held tight, pulling her hand closer to his chest. Claire's eyes darted about the room and she could feel her defence start to fall and her legs lose all feeling as fear engulfed her. He could shoot her where she stood, he would have to, she was not about to reveal her child's whereabouts; but she could still alert people to the dangerous man in the office before he fired a single shot.

Just as she worked up the courage to scream for help the young man smiled widely and opened his mouth. "Ms Meade, I really want to thank you, this opportunity means more to me than you'll ever know." He released her hand.

In a lightening quick move, she slammed her finger on the 'send' button and took a deep gulp of air in relief.

Claire nodded once, a stiff forced movement. "You're welcome." She gestured to the door. "Now let's see about these contracts, shall we?"

She felt more in control now the email had been sent. With any luck, one or all of them had seen it and the police were currently on their way. Within minutes the young man would be in custody and she would get her son back.

As she showed him back into the conference room, to where his girlfriend sat impatiently popping gum and rapping nails on the table, she missed Betty and Marc walk past her, their coats folded over their arms.

The duo passed the conference room and approached the large circular desk, where Amanda was once again stationed as there was no need for an assistant for Daniel as there was – well, no Daniel.

"Lunch time Mojitos are calling Mandy!" Marc sang as he drew nearer and trailed his fingers along the surface.

"Give me sixteen seconds; I just need to check my emails."

Betty reached over the desk and hit the power button on Amanda's screen, turning it off. "Okay firstly, move now, we only have an hour and I'm not missing the specials and secondly why sixteen seconds?"

Marc flung Amanda's jacket over her head and dragged her out from behind the desk, answering for her. "Because that's her attention span. Don't complain, it's taken us five years to increase it from twelve."

Betty rolled her eyes as she followed a complaining Amanda and an oblivious Marc out of the office.

xXx

"I'm so sorry, I really can't apologise enough...I'm mortified, truly." Helen stood on the steps outside the 'Johnson' household, an 'I'm sorry' basket in her hands, no doubt consisting of more homemade pastries and freshly brewed coffee. Wilhelmina stood marginally in front of Daniel, her arms folded and a stony expression on her face.

Daniel felt somewhat sorry for the woman on the threshold, he was no stranger to saying things he regretted when he was drunk and also more than familiar of what it felt like to be under the immobile stare of Wilhelmina Slater. He opened his mouth to say something, to give her a little relief from her plight; as if she sensed it, Wilhelmina dug her heel backwards, into Daniel's shin and shut him up abruptly.

Helen swallowed as she tried to look anywhere other than the piercing eyes which were boring through her skull but the fury behind that look had her rooted to spot. Again, she swallowed, there seemed to be no moisture left in her palate. "I don't know what else to say...I hope in time you will accept my apology as sincere. I've been just beside myself since that night. I can't eat, I can't sleep...can I Howard?"

Daniel and Wilhelmina looked over Helen's shoulder to where the ever-silent Howard stood and awaited the inevitable 'No dear', it didn't come.

Helen turned to her husband, expecting his back up as always. "Can I Howard?" She repeated, "Howard?"

The disgruntled man let out a long sigh, one he had likely been holding for years. "For once in your life Helen...shut up."

The jaws of the three people in front of him seemed to drop in unison. Wilhelmina, still in shock turned briefly to share a look of surprise with an equally bemused Daniel as Helen's mouth flapped wordlessly at her spouse.

"Speechless are you? Only taken the better part of thirty years? Can't eat or sleep can you not? Strange how I've been able to hear you snore from the other end of the house and how for the past two nights I've sat across from you eating like a pig from a trough like you normally do."

"Howard!" Helen was aghast.

"Oh enough...I've had enough of you letting all our neighbours think you've got my balls planted in the garden along with your prize winning flowers. I've taken a lot from you over the years...too much, but making me out to be the neighbourhood pervert is the last do you hear?"

He looked over his wife's head to Daniel and Wilhelmina. "Bob, Leigh...I don't do the neighbourhood patrol, never have, why would I need to when I'm married to my very own bloodhound who sniffs out any available gossip in a fifty mile radius. _She _does it, _she_ does the patrol and _she _was the one playing spy."

Daniel and Wilhelmina couldn't even react to this piece of news, they were still blown away at hearing more than two syllables from the man, now in full rant as he turned his attention back to his wife.

"And the only reason she's so interested in your sex life is that she hasn't got any in over a year...not even from the pool boy. You think I didn't know?" He asked off his wife's strangled gasp. "Please, I was just glad he kept you away from my bedroom. Yes that's right, separate rooms, has been for what...five, six years now, isn't that right _dear! _Anyway all the poor household staff she gets her tired old ass into the sack with are long gone as soon as she gets them the car they oh so desperately need or bankroll their hare-brained business ideas. You push everyone away Helen...and you've just done it to me."

"Howard!" Helen pleaded as her husband stormed away across the street. She turned back to Daniel and Wilhelmina, a look of desperation on her face. Daniel no longer felt sorry for her after her husband outing her as the real person who had spied on him and helped destroy the relationships he had back in New York. Wilhelmina simply raised her eyebrows and took a step back, pushing Daniel inside in the process, and slammed the door in the distraught woman's face.

Helen remained on the threshold, desolate; she had thought she had seen a spark of sympathy in 'Bob's' eyes. Her destitution was momentarily lifted when she heard the door open again and turned with a hopeful smile; only to see a slender mocha hand with perfectly maintained claws reach out and snatch the wicker basket from her hands, drawing it inside before the door slammed yet again.

Inside, Daniel grinned at Wilhelmina. "You enjoyed that didn't you?"

She sighed wistfully and smiled, looking upward as she placed the full basket on the table. "Oh God...I feel like ME again!"

When she looked at Daniel she saw his smile falter and rolled her eyes. "Oh calm down, I'm not about to stab you in the heart and turn into a bat...Alexis told me your little recurring nightmare, how sweet." She smirked.

Daniel's smile returned. "It's not that...a marriage just fell apart in front of us, don't you feel anything?"

Wilhelmina attempted a thoughtful frown. "You're right...I feel weird."

He was relieved. "I know, I mean, she was awful, but it's kinda sad."

"Oh that's not why...two people's lives may very well be destroyed...and I had nothing to do with it, it's a strange feeling." Her smirk widened.

Daniel tried and failed to look unimpressed with her comment, but couldn't help returning her smile. "You'll never really change will you?"

"Do you really want me to?"

He walked over to her, biting his lip and squinting, pretending to mull the question over. He reached her and hooked one finger in her waistband, pulling her in. "You know what...I don't think I do."

Wilhelmina slapped his shoulder and laughed. "You're such a fucking liar."

He kept smiling at her. "No I'm not, if you change then it's gonna end up hard to walk away. Be who you are, we walk away and we just...detach."

The moment the words left his mouth, he knew he had said the wrong as the smile died on her lips and the light touch on his arm disappeared as she withdrew her hand. Nodding slowly, she stepped back and reached a hand out for the basket on the table. She stepped out of his hold and made her way to the kitchen.

"Willie..." Daniel called softly. "Willie wait...I didn't...don't just walk away."

He stopped as she pushed the door and turned her head, she was smiling, but he recognised it as the smile of someone who was pretending everything was ok when in reality it was anything but. "I'm just being who I am Daniel...wouldn't want me to change would you?"

xXx

Marc, Betty and Amanda pushed through the revolving door of Meade; Marc and Amanda, having no concept of personal space, squeezed in the same compartment as Betty so her face was pressed up against the glass as they rotated in the glass cylinder, before spilling out onto the sidewalk.

Betty straightened herself up and started following the not-so-dynamic duo, who had already began walking in front of her and were currently playing their favourite game, 'would you tap?'

"Four o'clock?"

Marc looked in the direction and spotted the man in question. "If it was throwing out time at the bar and no one better had come along then yes, otherwise no...maybe...okay, yes. 2 o'clock?"

Amanda spun her head and saw the aging bald businessman, his pot-belly fighting against the buttons of his sweaty shirt. "He looks rich...and on his way to a coronary."

"Is that a yes?"

"Yes."

"Ew."

"Shut up...ummm." Amanda looked around for a candidate. "11.45"

"Keep it simple!"

Betty struggled to keep up and smiled as she saw that '11.45' was actually a bus stop, bearing a poster advertising Gerard Butler's latest movie. "Oh shoot!" She exclaimed and stopped in her tracks. "Guys wait."

They stopped, exasperated and turned in unison to face her. "I forgot Gerard Butler's people were going to email me this morning about the final edit on his interview."

"I'm hungry!" Amanda whined.

"And I'm sober!" Marc barked, stamping his foot a little.

Betty fiddled with the new Blackberry. "Just let me link my work emails to the phone...wait...YES! Did it." She was always pleased with herself when she managed to master a piece of technology.

"Hooray for you...welcome to three years ago, now can we eat!" Marc pulled Amanda back around and started walking.

Betty fell in step behind them, still smiling as she scrolled through her mail. Yet again she came to an abrupt halt and the smile quickly turned to a look of horror. "GUYS!"

"Oh for the love of god, what now? Have you discovered how to text?" Marc exclaimed.

"We need to get back to the office." She turned on her heels, when she didn't hear them behind her she inclined her head and bellowed. "NOW!"

The hurried footfalls of them following her reached her ears as she dialled and held the phone to her ear.

"Detective Harper...you have to get to Meade...he's here."

xXx

Daniel had been waiting for Wilhelmina to come back out the kitchen for almost an hour. He told himself he wouldn't follow her again, that perhaps it was a good thing he had said what he had and started recreating some distance between them. The argument sounded lame to his own ears and he swallowed what little was left of his pride and pushed through the door to the kitchen.

"So anyway, he's on board and he's just so glad he's in on the little scandal that he's not even mad at me for keeping my cute as a button mouth shut."

"Jesse...how did you get in here?" He questioned the young man sat next to Wilhelmina at the small circular table, the two of them nursing oversized coffee mugs.

"He came in the back way." Wilhelmina provided for him.

"I always do." Jesse quipped and pretended to look shocked at his own words.

"TMI Jesse." Daniel retrieved a cup of coffee for himself and noticed the silence now engulfing the room since he had entered.

Jesse's amused eyes flitted between the couple who were studiously avoiding looking at each other instead of the knowing fleeting glances he had become used to seeing them share. "So...I was just telling Wilhelmina that after the B-B-Q Blunder I kinda had to let James into your little undercover world..he's sworn to secrecy though, I made him swear on the ugly leather loafers he loves so much and refuses to part with...that means he's serious, he once jumped in the back of a garbage truck 'cos he thought I'd dumped them in the trash."

"Great." Daniels monosyllabic reply was as unenthusiastic as they come and he remained leaning forward on the counter, facing away and drinking his coffee.

The younger man placed his coffee mug on the table and fixed his hands on the surface, pushing himself up. "Well...although the atmosphere in here is as warm and fuzzy as a hug on a cold night...I better make a move."

Daniel nodded, but didn't turn around and Jesse ran his hand over Wilhelmina's shoulder and smiled before showing himself out.

"Well that was rude...you playing my role now?" Wilhelmina asked.

"So you admit it's a role?"

"Excuse me?"

He could feel the annoyance dripping off her words, but still didn't turn and face her. "You asked if I was playing your role...so you admit the woman I used to see in the office is a role?"

She exhaled a short laugh. "That's not what I said."

Daniel finally relented and turned to look at her, still sat cross legged at the table. He studied her, trying to decipher her looks, her thoughts. He guessed she was somewhere between the woman he knew at Mode and the woman he had known in this house. Both versions he had come to know seemed too extreme to be who she really was. Did he know who she really was yet? Did anyone? Did _she_? He was reading far too much into it.

"Well why don't you spell it out to me?"

"Spell what out? If you're going to have conversations in your head you need to let me know what you are saying if you expect me to follow."

"What we're doing...what that was about earlier...and don't play the innocent and pretend you have no idea what I'm talking about, innocent was never your strong suit."

Wilhelmina stood. "Fine...what you basically said was that if I weren't who I am, if I wasn't the bitch you learned to abhor, if I were _nice_, then you and I would not be doing what we are doing. Because I'm a cold unfeeling monster we can do what we do and you can walk away with a guilt free conscience because I have no feelings. You're sleeping with me Daniel and you're only doing it because I won't stop you walking away."

"That's not why..."

"Then why?"

"I DON'T KNOW!"

"WELL FUCKING FIGURE IT OUT BECAUSE I DON'T EITHER!"

The outburst from them both left them staring at each other; anger, lust and the feeling they still couldn't quite yet identify was reflected in both sets of eyes. This was it, this was gonna be _the talk_, this was when their pride and stupidly over inflated egos would over-rule everything else and the time spent in this house would be conveniently eradicated from history.

Daniel swallowed.

Wilhelmina opened her mouth.

There was a hammering at the front door.

Wilhelmina's eyes flitted to the side, to the source of the noise and Daniel turned his head in the same direction. The hammering continued, frantic and loud.

Breaking the spell that had frozen them both to the spot, Daniel hurried from the room; Willie following him swiftly. Daniel opened the door and, without preamble, their liaison officer swept in the door; a small, older man followed him inside.

"What's going on?" Wilhelmina asked as Daniel closed the door.

"Ms Slater, this is our photo artist Miles." He motioned to the gentleman who was already setting up his laptop. "I know you said you couldn't remember much but we need your photo description of the girl now...anything you can remember."

"Wait wait, slow down, explain." Daniel intercepted.

"There's been some developments...we got a call."

"And?" Both the witnesses answered in unison.

"We have your guy."

xXx

"What the hell! Dude...I don't know what you're talking about!" The shouts could be heard from Daniel's office, where the police had isolated the gunman.

Claire stood in the conference room, watching through the glass and fiddling with the pendant around her neck. She had begun to fear no one was coming, when half an hour earlier the elevator doors had opened and Marc, Betty and Amanda had hurried out; quickly followed by a number of armed officers.

She could have cried with relief when they hurried into the conference room and quickly cuffed the young man, amidst his protests and his girlfriend's screams.

"Ms Meade...we're so sorry, we went for lunch and..." Betty was standing at her side, guilt eating her up, she dreaded to think what would have happened if she hadn't checked her emails on her phone.

"No matter Betty...it's over."

She watched as an officer hurried from where he was stationed at Amanda's desk and carried a piece of paper into the make shift interrogation room. Detective Harper snatched the paper and studied it, then looked curiously through the glass, back at Claire.

With great strides, he left the room and made his way back to the conference room, Claire watching him all the way.

"Ms Meade," he said as he crossed the threshold. "We had some of our officers go to the house in Connecticut and take a photo description of the victim from Ms Slater...I think you should see this."

He handed her the sheet and stared at it for several seconds, "Is this a joke?" She asked, her brain trying to process a logical explanation for the face looking back at her.


	14. Chapter 14

Daniel had tried to make himself busy in the living room while Wilhelmina gave her description to the police in the kitchen. So far he had found 3 dollars and 29 cents in loose change, secreted under the cushions of the sofa and chairs, along with gum, a pen lid and something furry which he had launched out the front door as far as he could and then sprinted upstairs to scrub his hands.

He was now pacing the room, pausing intermittently to listen at the door; although he could never hear anything. He did another lap of the room and stopped in his usual spot and leaned towards the door again, pressing against it as he heard voices behind it for the first time. His body gave away as someone opened the door and he found his head connecting with the photo-fit artist's chest.

"Mr Meade." The man acknowledged him curtly, before moving past him.

Seconds later, Officer Richards crossed the threshold behind him; he nodded to Daniel. "I think we got what we need, we've emailed the composite to our guys in NY, we'll be in touch if it pans out."

Daniel nodded in reply, but he wasn't looking at the man, he was staring over his shoulder; into the kitchen where Wilhelmina sat completely still, her back to him. The man in his path moved past him and Daniel caught the swinging door before it had time to close, never taking his eyes off her prone form. He didn't even turn his head to pay attention to the opening and closing of the front door as the uninvited guests left.

Once he heard the sound of an engine starting, and saw the glow of the headlights distort the colours on the wall beside him, he took a few steps inside the room and stopped a few feet from her. When she didn't respond, to the sound of him approaching, he kept walking until he was next to her. He pulled the nearest chair and brought it close to her, he sat down and looked at her face for the first time since entering the room. She was completely impassive, not catatonic exactly, but emotionless and staring at her own reflection in the French window in front of her.

Daniel didn't speak to her, he didn't even say her name to get her attention. He just continued to star at her, he knew she was thinking of that girl, and of her own; Nico. She might wear the armour of the emotionally impenetrable bitch but even she had to have some modicum of human sentiment. He shifted his gaze from her face and instead he too looked at the reflection she seemed mesmerised by.

"I'm a terrible person Daniel."

"No you're not."

She laughed, properly laughed and shook her head, looking down into her lap. "Yes I am, and you know it, you're just offering up the text book response you would say to someone after they say something self depreciating...we both know what I am."

Daniel took a deep breath, he saw the truth in her words but he also knew himself, he knew he wouldn't have let himself get in so deep if they didn't even have a glimmer of humanity within them. "But even you said that the face you put out there, the woman the world knows, is a role."

"No I didn't Daniel, you did. I know who I am, always have and I've come too far to start regretting it now. I don't want you kidding yourself, this..." She waved a hand in between them. "...I don't know, whatever, it's not brought out some previously concealed good heart."

"But you...Willie you're obviously so down right now because thinking of that girl has made you think of Nico."

"Daniel..." Her voice had a warning behind it, she still didn't want him peering inside her head.

"No just shut up and listen to me." He pulled his chair closer to her. "You can sit there all you want and try and convince me you're completely devoid of feeling, but I know better now. Wilhelmina I've had to live with you, for over six weeks I've shared every aspect of your life, that may not sound like a lot; but for us it's about six weeks longer than anyone would ever think we could last."

He smiled at her and put a hand on top of hers on the table, she smiled back and placed her other hand on top of them both. "Ok, now you shut up and listen to me. The woman everyone reads about, the one you've worked with for four years and the one who will stop at NOTHING to get what she wants? That's me, that's _all me._ I relish it Daniel, I enjoy feeling the change in the air when I approach and people notice me. I love watching those little faces twist in fear when they cross me. I don't think anyone is good enough to have the right to stand in my path and I will take anyone down who tries...as you well know."

She felt Daniel's hand slipping out from in between hers and she held it tighter. "No Daniel, you need to hear this. You're right, I was thinking of Nico, but do you want to know what I was thinking? I was thinking maybe I never should have had her." She smirked ruefully when she saw a brief look of horror flash over his face. "There, what do you think of me know? I was thinking, maybe I shouldn't have had the daughter that did nothing but resent me her entire life and tried to betray me in the most awful way. Whatever I did in my life Daniel, I was always loyal to my parents, I may not have been mother of the year but I did everything I could to provide for that girl and she knew it. She manipulated me and her father into giving her everything she ever wanted in some sort of never ending tug of war, she knew how to play us from the day we divorced. I tried to be a Mom, she made me an enemy. I think of that girl we saw and I see my child...I told my daughter I never wanted to see her face again; and what sickens me is, that's still how I feel. After seeing that girl...Daniel I should want to find her, make sure she's ok, but I don't. I don't want to risk being pulled back into her lies and letting her play me again. I'm blind when it comes to her." She laughed a little, bitterly. "What does that say about me?"

Daniel regarded her closely, she had tried to shock him with her word, of that he was sure, and she had somewhat succeeded. But he still wasn't entirely convinced. "She's your kid Willie. I think it's a parent's natural instinct to be blind to their kid's faults. I know my Mom spent a large portion of her life making excuses for me and Alex. You though, Willie you've made yourself into this...I dunno, unmanageable force to be reckoned with, no one dares cross you and the fact that she did it, your own flesh and blood and you never saw it coming..."

"Makes it worse than if it were anyone else, because I made her that way." She finished the sentence and saw him nodding from the corner of her eye. She sighed, "Maybe you're right, you're kinda good at this you know, worryingly good."

"I'm a sucker for Oprah."

She laughed at him. "Even if you are right Daniel, it doesn't mean what I've said isn't true. Granted I'm marginally less poisonous towards the people I care about, but I still enjoy being the villain, I always have."

"I know...and I know why."

Wilhelmina rolled her eyes upwards. "Do share, Mr Winfrey."

"Being the bad guy; pretending you enjoy this image, you will now more than likely have to the day you die, means you don't have to let anyone in...and on the rare occasions you do, if they hurt you, you can put on your battle gear and pretend they never got through in the first place. It stops you being normal."

"Daniel, why are you doing this? Why are you of all people trying to crack through my psyche and figure out what makes me tick? Why are you trying to make me feel better about what I am? Everything I've just said to you, on top of everything I've ever done to you...and I'm not sorry Daniel, I'd do it all over again if I had to."

"I know." He said hollowly, his thumb absent-mindedly rubbing circles over the back of her hand.

"So why?"

Wilhelmina watched him intently, he tilted his head and smiled at her. "You're honest..." He continued over her derisive laughter. "You are, maybe not in the widely recognised term of the word. You know who you are and what you want and you don't apologise for it."

"Okay, I'll give you that I guess."

"You challenge me."

"Tell me something I don't know."

"No, not like that, not the way you used to. You always challenge me to work and best myself, just to prove you wrong; but more than that now, you challenge me on every level Willie. You make me realise that life isn't all black and white, good and bad, there's plenty of room for grey area, and you make me realise if you open yourself to things you never thought you could...it can be better than you ever imagined."

"You're talking like my boyfriend." She forced a chuckle, trying to lighten the atmosphere that had set in around them.

"I'm taking like someone who cares about you, and who knows you better than he thought he could."

She shook her head. "Why? Daniel I get what happened here, two people stuck with only each other for company; the physical changes pretty much explain themselves. Don't kid either one of us into thinking you care about me. Don't-"

He shut her up abruptly by bringing his lips against hers harshly. After the momentary surprise had passed, she responded to his lips moving over hers and moaned lightly into the kiss. A hand sank through her hair as she wrapped a hand around his nape, each pulling the other closer. When the need to breathe became too much, Daniel pulled away and rested his forehead against hers, listening to them breathing in unison.

"Willie...we're talking round in circles here. I don't think either one of us can explain it, but why do we need to?"

"Because it's..."

"Stop it, stop making excuses." He stood up and held his hand out to her. "Get up."

"Where are we going?"

"What kind of husband doesn't know how to cheer his own wife up?" He smirked.

She took his hand and let him pull her to her feet. "I find it worrying that I need to remind you, you're not actually my husband Daniel."

"We've had six weeks of great sex and three and a half years of fighting like hell...that's a marriage if ever I heard it."

xXx

Marc was holding the picture which Claire had handed him. "This doesn't make sense." He screwed up his face at the image staring up at him. Amanda snatched it, Betty then snatched it from her and Marc snatched it back yet again. He held it up at arm's length so all three could see and compared it to the crying, pacing woman beyond the glass.

"That's definitely her." Betty sighed in confusion.

"Yeah I'd say so, except for the one small detail of her being alive." Marc countered.

"Maybe she survived?" Amanda offered.

"Does she show any signs of having a bullet in her head to you?" Marc sneered at her.

"Ooh Ooh! A twin!" Betty exclaimed waving her hands.

Marc and Amanda looked at each other, both pondering Betty's idea. "I guess that's logical...which in our little Modieverse means it's the least probable answer."

Claire's heels clicked slowly as she approached them with her arms folded. She joined the trio, standing in a line, all staring at the tear-stained face of the young woman through the glass. An officer leaned in and asked her a question and, as if a lightbulb had went off, she began gesturing emphatically and pointing to the room her boyfriend was being held in.

Moments later, the door to the opposite office opened and the young man who had been being questioned for hours, bolted past the officers. Claire and the others gave an involuntary jump of fright and looked at each other in bewilderment when the police didn't automatically seize him. The man ran into the conference room and hugged his girlfriend to him tightly.

Detective Harper walked forlornly into the room. One hand deep in his pockets and the other rubbing his weary face.

"What in God's name is going on!" Claire demanded, striding up to him.

"I think you should all hear this." He nodded his head to indicate the couple still embracing in the conference room, and walked slowly back to the glass office.

Claire, Marc and Betty all exchanged glances before hurrying after her; all too preoccupied to tell Amanda to keep away and she happily skipped after them, glad to be included.

The four of them sat on one side of the large circular conference table, all staring wearily at the couple seated on the other side, flanked by the silent police officers.

"Are we supposed to guess?" Claire snapped.

"It appears there has been a case of...there's been a mistake." An Officer spoke.

"Daniel and Wilhelmina gave wrong descriptions?" Marc offered half-heartedly, knowing if there was one thing you could count on Wilhelmina Slater for, it was an eye for detail.

"Not exactly." Detective Harper cleared his throat. "We've had a long talk. It appears young Mr Walker here has been rather foolish, b-"

"FOOLISH!" The interruption jumped from Claire's mouth.

"BUT!" He cut back in. "He's no killer."

"Explain." She growled, leaning back in her chair and folding her arms.

Harper extended his hand to the young man sat on his right, indicating he should take it from here. The supposed gunman seemed to be shaking and his hands twisted and trembled in front of him. His girlfriend reached over and squeezed it and they gave each other a reassuring smile.

"Ms Meade, I'm sure you know I came here today at my Mom's request, to help with an article about how I turned my life away from the streets and focussed it into something more...something with substance."

"How touching, and what exactly does that have to do with you shooting at my son!"

"Everything, Ms Meade, I enrolled in school...I'm a Film and Media student."

"So?" Marc and Amanda asked as Claire and Betty squeezed their eyes closed and leaned back in realisation.

"I was making a film for class, Jo, my girlfriend was helping me. If your friends had looked up on the fire escape, they would have seen my classmate filming us."

Claire spluttered and shot forward. "You shot at them!"

At this, the young man had the good grace to look ashamed. "Blanks...I saw them, I was so pumped up. I just reacted, thought it would look good on film, score some extra credit you know. I didn't think anything like this would ever happen, I thought they would just get outta there and go back to their lives. I'm so sorry."

"Sorry! You're sorry that two people have, for almost two months, had their lives disrupted, thought they saw someone die and that someone was after them? You're sorry that my son has been away from the people who care about him most and been trapped with the last person he should ever spend a prolonged period of time with? All so you could scrape a passing grade at some community college!"

"I thought you said you believed the man involved had ties to a larger operation." Betty directed the question at the police.

It was Detective Harpers turn to look embarrassed. "We have our guy under surveillance, including a number of restaurants in the city which we believe he is using as a front for an elaborate money laundering syndicate. Mr Walker was seen frequenting each premises regularly. Unfortunately for us, it appears it was totally legitimate."

"I've been bussin' tables, pretty much anywhere I can, trying to make some extra money for school, you know?"

A silence fell around them all, the young couple were still in shock and clearly a little frightened but ultimately relieved after the manhandling they had both received. The police all sat rigid, their faces set in thin lines as they tried to mask their embarrassment, especially Harper, who had been the head of the task force and sent the witnesses into hiding. Claire looked at them all in turn; feeling intense anger at the stupidity of the naive young students and the sheer idiocy of NYPD's finest, well aware Daniel and Wilhelmina could sue their asses off. She quashed it all down though and tried to focus on the positive. "Well...at least no one actually died."

"Not yet at least" Marc quipped. "But I can't say for sure what will happen when you tell Wilhelmina she's been kept away from two issues of Mode...playing Mrs to Daniel's Mr for nothing."

Despite herself, Claire laughed. "What now?"

Harper smiled and leaned forward. "Let's bring your boy home."

xXx

"You, Daniel Meade, are an idiot."

"What? Oh come on, I know you like it." He waggled his eyebrows.

"And, pray tell, how do you know such an intimate thing about me?"

Daniel shrugged. "My Dad told me."

Wilhelmina's eyebrows shot up. "How deeply disturbing."

"And..." He continued, laughing. "He told me how good you were at it."

"Again...disturbing. As touching yet creepy as I find it that you had these little father/son chats about me; it's been a while since I gave this a go, I might be a little rusty."

"Well I'm sure as soon as you get the leather in your hands it will all come rushing back, anyway; it can't have been that long."

"Well I tried it once with Connor but he wasn't really into it."

"Well I'm game." He grinned

"Daniel I'm really not sure about this...this is a little too much for us."

He groaned in annoyance, "Willie can you stop pretending like you're not going to give in. I know how much you want it, I can see it in your eyes, can we just start riding for god's sake?"

"Daniel..."

"Just get on the horse Willie!"

Wilhelmina narrowed her eyes and looked at the beast before her. Fifteen, maybe sixteen, hands she thought as she patted its soft brown flank. In a move, which came so familiar to her she felt as if it were yesterday and not years ago that she had last done it, she placed her foot in the stirrup and effortlessly swung her leg over and settled in the saddle. She ran her fingers through the downy fetlocks of the animal, so similar to the many horses she had owned, and turned to watch Daniel.

He was attempting to climb up on his own, bigger, horse; at least seventeen hands, Willie mused, and he was failing miserably. She let out a snort of laughter as Daniel's eyes widened when the stable owner wedged his shoulder under Daniel's thigh and planted hands, the size of catcher's mitts, on each of his ass cheeks, heaving him onto the horse.

"You got an hour." He grunted and ambled away.

Daniel stared forward, eyes on stalks and mouth open, Willie openly laughed at his incredulity. "It's not funny!" He whined.

"Daniel Meade getting molested by Old MacDonald? Funny in my book." She grinned.

He chuckled at her, feeling rather pleased with his little idea, at how he was getting to know her and not caring how it overcomplicated matters.

Wilhelmina wanted to take the reins and dig her heels in, bringing the horse to a canter before breaking off into a full gallop, like she always used to when she was younger, when dealing with all her family's eccentricities and soul crushing expectations proved too much for her; but Daniel's attempt to mount the horse gave her the impression he'd fall off in a second if left to his own devices.

Of all the things she could do with Daniel Meade, she never thought horseback riding would be on the list; then again, neither was living with, sleeping with or generally getting along with him. This was so NOT them, that no one would ever believe it, she was just glad they were in a muddy field, if a sunset or a beach had somehow been thrown into the mix she would think she had died and was living out some sad movie cliché. Right now she didn't even care that he was pulling them deeper and deeper into this thing they'd promised to walk away from. She pulled on the reins and her horse began to walk slowly down the track.

"You won't race off without me will you?" Daniel asked her nervously.

"No, don't worry. She smirked over her shoulder. "We'll take it slow."

xXx

When they returned to the house, it was to find a dark yet inviting home. Daniel stood at the door and watched Willie walk the length of the room. He definitely wasn't imagining it, she looked lighter somehow, now that the tension and awkward revelations which had presented themselves that morning has dissipated. She was no longer walking in the rigid way she used to, that always made Daniel think she must have a rod up her ass, her hips didn't sway quite as forcefully as usual. She was relaxed, he had relaxed her, and it unnerved him how much that made him happy.

"What?" She asked, smiling, when she caught him staring at her. She was too tired and, dare she say it, happy, to snap at him for the goofy look he was giving her.

"Nothing." He answered softly as he closed the door and walked for her. When he was within arm's reach, he pulled her to him by her wrist and pressed his lips to hers.

The kiss lasted longer than they had ever let it in the past, the heat that usually consumed them at this point was now bubbling gently on the back burner, they remained content with the languid pace of their lips against each other, exploring each other at their leisure.

The moment Daniel heard the soft groan escape her, he pushed himself against her and increased the pressure of their kiss. Wilhelmina began to respond eagerly; the shrill ring of the phone broke through their haze.

"Ignore it." Daniel murmured, never ceasing his contact with her.

"We can't." Her voice was muffled as her protests were swallowed by his kiss. "It'll be the station checking in." She pulled away from him. "We need to know if the kid they caught is our guy."

Daniel released her from his hold, they stared at each other as the phone continued to ring; each very aware that the outcome of this call could lead them home sooner rather than later, where this would be nothing more than a memory they could revisit alone, but never together.

Wilhelmina leaned her head in. "I'll be upstairs." She whispered, kissing his, now full, lips lightly. "Don't be long."

He followed her with his eyes until she was out of sight, cursing the NYPD, and then snatched up the phone. "Hello, we're fine, thanks for checking, bu-bye." He tried to hang up before they could speak.

"MR MEADE!" The disembodied voice yelled.

He reluctantly brought it back to his ear. "What?" He half snapped, half sighed. Anybody watching would have been able to see him visibly deflate when he heard the speaker on the other end.

"It's good news, you're going home. You'll need to attend a debriefing at some point after you've returned to the city, so we can explain...uh...everything." The voice paused, awaiting a positive reaction; none came. "We can send a squad car to bring you back to the city, but it won't be until tomorrow evening, you're free to make your own way back to the city if you prefer to leave before that."

Daniel hesitated, and stammered. "Uh...er...no...no we'll get a town car sent from our office."

"Sure thing, just remember to check in with us at some point, and just remember...we were always looking out for you best interests; better safe than sorry and all that."

Daniel nodded, not caring he couldn't be seen, barely even listening; he definitely missed the inflection in the other man's voice. He held the receiver to his ear long after he heard the click in his ear, telling him the call had disconnected, only replacing it in the cradle when the line began beeping loudly in his ear.

He took longer than normal walking up the stairs, his footsteps falling heavily on each one as he tried to figure out how to tell her they could leave, that this was over. Daniel looked down, pinching the bridge of his nose, and pushed the door open. "Willie..." He looked up and the words fell away.

Wilhelmina was lying on top of the bed, wearing only her deep blue matching underwear, the black lace trim of the garments framing her form perfectly.

"What did they say?"

Daniel shut the door with his foot and kneeled on the edge of the bed, he crawled up her body and began lowering the straps of the bra, kissing the shoulders he left bare.

"Daniel?" She grabbed his wrist, stilling him. He looked up into her questioning eyes; more blue today than yesterday, yesterday when he studied them, he could have sworn they were green. He smirked at the amount of attention he now paid to her every detail.

"It wasn't our guy."


	15. Chapter 15

_Authors Note: Hello to all you lovely people who want to kill me for not updating! I'm sorry it's been so long. Sucks how real life gets in the way of fandoms doesn't it! Lol. Plus working on that beasty angsty mother of a fic, that shall remain nameless, with dardeile saps all my fic energy! Anyway, here it is, coming to the end now and I promise I won't leave it as long next time. :D_

_xXx_

Daniel stood leaning against the counter, watching the coffee brew in the pot. He had left Wilhelmina sleeping upstairs, she had muffled a protest in her sleep when he extricated his warm body from next to hers. Picking up two mugs, he filled them with the strong coffee, stronger then how he would normally take it, but it was how she liked it.

He tucked the paper under his arm and picked up the mugs, as he turned to leave he caught his reflection in the window; he hadn't even known he was smiling. Smiling wider at his own reflection, he turned and left the room. He was halfway up the stairs and chuckling to himself that he behaving exactly like a husband, pampering his wife on the weekends.

Daniel stopped dead in his tracks, he had been that husband, he had dutifully prepared his wives morning beverage on several occasions and brought it to her in bed. Although, it had been less to do with the fact that he wanted to spoil her and more to do with the fact that his wife had been too weak and tired to get out of their bed. With a crushing wave of guilt, he realised that, before that moment, he couldn't remember the last time he had thought of Molly.

He had known this moment would come of course, people had told him it would and that he would go on to meet someone else. It didn't stop it hurting when it came though, he hadn't expected it to come so fast and he certainly never expected that the person he would become involved with would be _her_.

Was he involved though? They had told themselves, and each other, countless times that it stayed here and here alone. Not only had they agreed it for the sake of the people back in New York, but back home they would be free to live their own lives, see who they wanted and would have no need for each other anymore. But if it was all so clear cut, then why had he lied to her about the call?

If he had told her last night then she would have summoned a town car right away and right now she would probably be in the office, catching up on all she had missed and immersing herself back into her world while they distanced themselves from each other.

He realised he must look an idiot, standing prone in the middle of the staircase in his boxers, holding two cups of coffee and staring into space as he tried to piece together what should be his next move. The phone rang, no doubt the police station, questioning when they would be leaving the safe-house. He knew it had to be soon, the officers would no doubt be sending someone to clean it out and prepare for its next use. The phone kept ringing insistently, telling him what he had to do.

He had to tell her.

Sitting the coffee cups and paper on the stair in front of him, he quickly padded back down the stairs and walked to the phone. He stared at it for several seconds as it continued to emit its shrill sound. He placed his hand on the receiver and quickly withdrew it; reaching his hand around the back, he pulled at the wire and disconnected it, the ringing stopped abruptly. Yes, he had to tell her.

Just not today.

He nodded his head once, at the now silent phone, in a 'that shut you up' gesture and did an about turn and hurried back up the stairs, picking up the coffee and paper on the way. Awkwardly opening the door with his elbow, he pushed back into the room and saw she was still sleeping. He put the two mugs on the table at his side and slipped back under the cover, immediately returning his body to the heat of hers.

She suddenly moved away from him. "Oh my god Daniel, you're freezing!"

"I thought you were asleep." He mumbled against her shoulder.

"Just dozing...until a block of ice decided to curl up to me. Back up, you're too cold." She whined, wriggling under the covers to try and push him back, but he just held her tighter and scooted close again.

"And you're warm."

"Stop stealing my heat!"

"As your husband, I think you'll find that 50% of that heat is mine." He joked.

She chuckled lightly at him, still facing away with her eyes closed. "Yeah well I didn't sign any pre-nup so I'll make sure I get it all."

He rested her chin on her shoulder and as she felt his body grow less cold she consented to move back until she was spooned in front of him again. "Who was on the phone?"

"Cold call." He lied easily.

"M'kay." She mumbled sleepily.

"Hey." He shook her lightly. "I made you coffee."

He twisted slightly and reached his hand over to attempt to grab her cup. Wilhelmina reached her arm back and grabbed his bicep, pulling him back around her. "Leave it." She told him and closed her eyes again, sinking back onto the pillow and easily going back to sleep.

xXx

"I don't understand, why aren't they here?" Claire questioned, pacing in Daniel's office.

Marc shrugged. "It's a Saturday, maybe they just went home."

Claire scoffed, maintaining her walk around the room. "Please, Wilhelmina has been away from here for almost two months, we have an issue shipping in three days and you know damn fine she would be in those doors like a flash trying to rip it all apart and have it redone to her say-so."

"And Daniel?"

She stopped pacing. "Well Daniel would obviously come in to check on the magazine too."

"So...that's the only reason he would come in? Nothing to do with a certain other person that may-"

"No Marc, he would not come in to play happy families with his make-believe wife if that's what you're insinuating, and if that is what you're saying then please stop...the very thought of it incites nausea and a strong urge to pickle my head in gin."

"Doesn't most things?"

Claire shot him a look. "What?" He protested. "I'm supposed to be filling in for Wilhelmina as best I can aren't I?" He grinned.

"You're forehead moves to much and you need to find more places to taunt me about my dead husband." She told him dryly. Marc stopped listening after the word 'forehead' and was currently working the muscles on his brow, feeling for any frown lines.

"Well the police said they definitely got the message and they said they would take a town car back instead of the squad car tonight."Betty said as she bustled into the room, Amanda swaying her hips exaggeratedly behind her.

"Have any of them been booked?" Claire asked.

"Nope." Betty shook her head. "Just checked."

"Well let's assume they changed their minds and are taking the squad car back tonight, I don't think we should worry until after that." Marc reasoned.

After a moment's deliberation, Claire nodded. "Do they know the truth yet?"

"Nu-uh, Officer Hot-pants said it'll be done in person when they return." Amanda supplied.

"Okay...okay." Claire resumed her pacing, rubbing her hands together. "Betty, would you do me the favour of helping me make Daniel's apartment ready for him?"

"Of course."

"Okay Mandy-pants, I guess that leaves you with me to wait for Wilhelmina." Marc clapped his hands together.

"What, me ,why!" She asked, looking harassed.

"Because dear, if I'm playing the part of Willie, I need my very own little version of me to fulfil all my little soul crushing requests and outrageous demands and to worship-slash-fear me at all times."

Amada shrugged. "'Kay." She answered as if he had requested something as simple as a ride home, not ritual humiliation.

Betty and Claire simply looked at the twosome and shook their heads. "So...I guess we'll all meet back here tomorrow? Bring Daniel and Willie into the office to bring them up to speed?" Claire questioned.

The rest of them nodded, each nervous about the return and secretly also a little curious about just what kind of couple would be coming back.

xXx

Daniel was bored, well that wasn't quite true, he was trying to find ways to fill his time, to keep his mind off the secret he was keeping from her and the gnawing feeling that it was a ticking time bomb that would no doubt explode in his face. He could hear her clattering about in the kitchen, and had no desire to face her yet.

As she had got out of the bed, she had leaned over and kissed him leisurely, looking into his eyes for several seconds as she pulled away. She hadn't been searching in them for anything, she hadn't been trying to convey any deep seeded feeling of burgeoning affection or the lingering worry that they were in too deep. She was just looking at him.

He knew if he went in there to tell her now then the way she looked at him that morning would be gone forever and, in truth, he didn't trust that the monster inside him would let him tell her; that it wouldn't just look for a way to distract him into pleasing his carnal instincts yet again. Every time he tried to tell her, it would rear its head. _Just one more time, just one more hour, minute, second._

So he had distracted himself, with anything he could. He had watched TV, but quickly grown tired of it. He had went for a shower, but that didn't help matters; only brought back memories of who his companion had been underneath it the previous morning. He had already trawled through the drawers and closets in the bedroom and found nothing of interest and now found himself in the room neither he or Willie had spent any length of time in; the room so obviously intended for a child.

For the second time that day, he found himself thinking of Molly and he was ashamed that he was forgetting to feel the grief when he thought of her. He wasn't forgetting her, but he was remembering how to be without her...and to be with someone else. Even when he thought of the kids he and Molly should have had together it didn't eat him up like it should. To be honest, while the idea of a family with her had been appealing, he wasn't so sure anymore if that was what he wanted. The only children he had ever imagined having had been hers, and without her he simply didn't feel the urge.

Without her, he remembered how selfish he really was; kids were supposed to be part of the plan, that was why he had wanted them, because he was _supposed to_. An unattractive truth perhaps, but ultimately better than having children for the wrong reasons.

Walking further into the room, he sat in the rocking chair and felt something hard under the cushion. He reached under it and pulled out a book, he read the title and chuckled; opening it and flicking to the pages he already knew he wanted to read.

As he read the few lines, he laughed to himself, oblivious to the creaking of the floorboards. "What are you reading?"

He looked up at her standing at the doorway and held up the book, she leaned forward slightly and peered at the front of it. "Oh dear God, is this where we have some deep meaningful talk about you getting way ahead of yourself and I explain to you the ravages of time?" She joked, snatching the book of names out of his hand.

He laughed and snatched it back. "No, listen to this." He said, and cleared his throat. "Wilhelmina: Germanic..._figures_...means strong willed, desire and protection; warrior. Pretty on the nose huh?"

"Gimme that!" She grabbed it out of his hand, turning away when he tried to grab it from her, and flicking through the pages. "Daniel...Daniel...oh here we go. Daniel; God is my Judge, how boring." She snorted, "Oh wait, there's more...oh for God sake!" She rolled her eyes. "Daniel also means attractive."

She threw the book at him as he grinned idiotically, she turned to leave. "Wait...wait, hold up." He called after her lightly. "We have surnames too."

She sighed and leaned against the wall. "Enlighten me Professor Meade."

He straightened up in the chair, finding the page. "Okay...uh...Ah here it is. Slater; taken from the profession, one who works with slates...wow...interesting." He droned, sarcastically. "And lemme see...Meade...never mind." He said hastily and stuffed the book under his ass.

"Uh uh, no way, give me that book." She said and he resolutely folded his arms and shook his head. She stepped towards him and knelt one leg on his lap, pinning him and reached under him to pull the book out. It fell open easily at the page he had last been looking at, she read it and laughed. "Meade; Old English for meadow and most likely also derived from the alcoholic beverage of the same name." She tapped her chin and pretended to think. "So the Slater's worked their asses off for everything they earned while the Meades sat around in a field and got hammered...gee, I wonder why that sounds familiar."

"Oh haha, so your family are grafters and mine are drunks, I get it." He pouted at her.

"Hey I didn't write the book...can't argue with the facts though."

He smiled up at her, she grinned back, his own smile faltering when she did so. He had to tell her, and when he did he knew that smile would disappear forever and that whatever they had built between those walls would vanish. She would berate him and belittle him for keeping it from her, accusing him of keeping her from Mode to push her out for good. He shouldn't have kept it from her in the first place, maybe if he had told her straight away, there would have been a way to salvage a civility at least. He couldn't keep it from her any longer, just to stave off his fear at the repercussions. He opened his mouth to tell her.

"Why are you in here anyway?"

Her question caught him off guard. "Just...you know...thinking." He shrugged.

She looked around the room, taking in its function, and then back to Daniel. "Molly?"

He nodded. "How'd you know?"

Wilhelmina folded her arms and looked down, kicking the carpet with the toe of her shoe. "Because you have that same far off look, Marc tells me I get, when I think about..._him_."

"You still think of Connor?"

"Sometimes." She responded quietly. "Not so much recently though."

"Me either...about Molly I mean." He admitted, shamefully.

"It hurts when you realise you can't remember the last time you thought about them, doesn't it?"

He nodded. "It does...but no offense Willie, it's not really the same is it? I mean Connor isn't...he isn't..."

"Dead?" She finished for him, he looked up into her eyes and nodded. Wilhelmina swallowed and folded her arms tighter. "He is to me."

Daniel stared at her, she was right, they had both lost the people they had thought they would spend the rest of their lives with. It didn't matter how they had left them, all that mattered was that they had. He knew that she had gone back to Connor while he was in prison, he wasn't dense, he knew how much she loved him. Betty had compounded his belief when she had confided in him about Wilhelmina's failed attempts to commit herself to him, when he had run away from her for the second time. Daniel continued to stare at her and could think only one thing about Connor.

Fool.

They had gone through the exact same thing, he and Wilhelmina, they both saw the futures they had planned, vanish in an instant. Perhaps without this shared experience they wouldn't be where they were now. Perhaps had they both not still been grieving they would have indeed killed each other whilst trapped in these walls, as anyone else would suspect. He could barely suppress a smirk when he thought of Connor's face if he ever realised he had pushed, not one, but two women he had loved into his arms.

Wilhelmina shook her head sharply, clearing her thoughts. "Anyway...come here, I wanna show you something."

"What?"

"Oh for God sake, can't you follow a simple instruction? Just come here will you?" She walked out the room and could hear a chuckling Daniel follow her.

He walked behind her, down the stairs and into the kitchen. He stopped after her, in the middle of the room. "Ta-da!" She exclaimed.

Daniel looked around, seeing nothing out of the ordinary and shrugged. Wilhelmina huffed and pointed, Daniel followed where she was pointing to and saw the blinking light on the machine. "You did laundry?" He asked, wholly unimpressed.

"No dumbass, I fixed the stupid thing and THEN I did laundry." She smiled proudly.

"_You_ fixed it? How?" He grinned.

"The same way I fix everyone and everything that doesn't do what I want it to do. I hit it 'til it worked."

He laughed. "Well...uhm...well done?" He offered, still not sure why he was congratulating her.

"Daniel, don't you get it, for the first time in my forty-_something_ years, I have done something domesticated that doesn't involve sticking my hand up a turkey's ass." She was unduly proud of herself for completing a menial task.

"I hope that last statement was cooking related."

Wilhelmina shot him a look and bent to open the door of the washer. She gasped and pulled out a piece of clothing which was now the colour of sludge. Digging deeper into the machine, she pulled out a very green pair of boxers. Turning slowly to face Daniel, she launched the sodden underwear at his head when she saw him shaking with laughter.

He caught it easily. "C'mon...it's funny. Plus you should learn to laugh at yourself, it's healthy."

She smiled slowly, before looking back into the machine and laughing softly.

"See...I told you." Daniel grinned.

Wilhelmina drummed her hands on the drum of the machine and stood, "Did I mention these were your clothes?"

"WHAT!" Daniel lunged forwards and began pulling the shirts and chinos out, all of them the same greeny-brown colour. "I have to go out in these!"

She leaned her elbow on his shoulder. "Oh calm down, it's healthy to laugh at yourself." She patted him twice on the back. "Remember?"

xXx

"Even if they had waited for the town car, they would be back by now!" Claire snapped for what felt like the hundredth time as she marched down the corridor, Betty following wearily.

They had been at Daniel's apartment for hours that day, trying to make it more habitable. Betty had stocked the fridge with his favourite food, cleaned away the almost inch thick dust and aired the whole place out while Claire had...well Claire had just sat there.

Claire reached out and knocked the door sharply with a bony hand.

The door opened and all that emerged from it was an arm bearing a tray laden with smoked salmon and caviar. "Welcome Hoooooooo...oh." Marc stopped when he opened the door wider and saw Claire's angry face.

"She's not back either then?" She snapped as she pushed past him, into Willie's hallway and down into the living room.

"Why else would I be saying 'welcome home'?"

"I don't know smart ass, why would Wilhelmina knock the door to her own apartment." She answered back and Marc looked suitably shot down.

"Oh good, it's you." Claire and Betty jumped out of their skin when Amanda appeared from behind a curtain.

"What in God's name are you doing?" Claire asked her, a hand over her racing heart.

She shrugged and plucked a piece of salmon from Marc's tray. "I thought you were Wilhelmina." She offered as if it were the simplest explanation in the world.

"You wouldn't have been able to hide for long." Claire said distractedly as she dumped her coat and bag on Willie's couch. "She can sense human souls in a three block radius...how else do you think she feeds?"

"Daniel's not back either, he hasn't even called. She's a little...fraught." Betty offered.

"Oh I get it." Marc grinned. "You thought they might come here first for one last nasty little-"

"Finish that sentence and I will melt off you nipples!" Claire snapped, pointing a shaky finger at him.

"It's like Willie's still here." He muttered under his breath.

Marc sat the tray down and pulled out his cell, flipping it open. He walked into the kitchen without a word to any of them. Claire continued pacing and wringing her hands. "I know this is her doing, I don't know why, but she's keeping him there for some reason."

Betty looked around the room, taking in all Marc and Amanda had done to bring it up to Wilhelmina's standards for her return; fresh flowers, the food, chilled wine. Amanda stared, slack-jawed, into the impressive glass fire place, mesmerized by the dancing flames inside; as easily distracted as always.

Marc came back from the kitchen, snapping the phone shut and thrust a torn piece of paper into Claire's hand. "What's this?"

"The number for the phone they installed in the safe house. No need to keep it secret anymore is there, now that the case is over...or never actually existed. The police gave it to me, no problem, I'm surprised you didn't think of it sooner." He smiled at his own intelligence.

Claire scowled at him and snatched up Wilhelmina's house phone, stabbing in the numbers violently. "It's busy." She informed them when she slammed it back down.

"Betty." She whirled around to face her. "Book a town car to take me to Connecticut now."

"The cars are all out Ms Meade." She offered meekly.

"FINE! First thing in the morning then. I will keep trying to call."

Betty walked away, keeping her thoughts to herself that perhaps Daniel and Wilhelmina had a good reason for not wanting to return just yet, she pulled out her own phone and dialled, listening to Claire cursing in the background as she repeatedly punched redial.

xXx

When Daniel had finally deigned to come out his mood, after Wilhelmina reminded him of something they could do that didn't matter if his clothes were the colour of mud; primarily because none were involved, the day had passed in one of those contented manners, where you do nothing and the day seems to stretch infinitely in front of you. The quiet moments used to drive her mad, and there were plenty of those to be had here in their suburban prison; half assed attempts at domesticity, bitchy neighbours and ill advised sex only took up so much time. Now though, the silent moments had become more than bearable, she was no longer praying for a way back into Mode whenever her brain had a minute of inactivity. It wasn't that she didn't want to go back, on the contrary, she couldn't wait. It's just that she no longer minded being away.

She came out of the kitchen and pulled her robe tighter around herself, fighting off the chill in the air. Picking up the two glasses of wine, she had her foot on the bottom step before she looked outside and realised the sun had set. Daniel had been upstairs with her all afternoon, so she knew he couldn't have made the call as he usually did.

She sat the glasses down and reached for the phone, when she was met with silence, instead of the dial tone, she peered behind it and saw the connection was loose. Frowning at it, she plugged it back in and jumped when the loud ringing instantly pervaded the quiet room.

As she reached for the receiver, she could hear hurried movement upstairs and a thud which could only be Daniel jumping out the bed. She picked it up just as she heard the crack of wood against wood as the bedroom door was flung open and bounced off the wall.

"Hello?" Wilhelmina held the phone away from her ear as the screeching voice of Claire Meade echoed through it.

Daniel leapt down the stairs, at least three at a time, and came to a halt at the bottom, gripping the banister. He listened to the voice, even he at this distance, could recognise as his mothers and tried to catch his breath, his chest heaving.

He stared at Wilhelmina's back and after a minute and a particularly loud yell from the other end of the phone, she whipped her head around to face him. From the look on her face, he knew his mother had just blown the secret he had been keeping. Just as he knew she could see it on his face, that he had known they could go home.

"CLAIRE!" Willie suddenly yelled down the phone. The other woman instantly quietened. "We'll be home in the morning." She placed the receiver down.

Daniel watched her as she bit her lip and tucked her hair behind her ear. She walked to him slowly and when she was next to him at the foot of the stairs she looked up into his eyes. Daniel could hear her fighting to keep her breath even.

"Willie, I can ex-"

But he never had a chance to explain anything, as her open palm connected painfully with his cheek, snapping his head to the side. The sound of skin slapping skin reverberated around the house. He waited for her to rage at him, scream at him, even hit him again.

Without a word, without even another glance at him, she walked past him and up the stairs. He watched her back as she moved away from him, staring at the top of the stairs long after she had turned the corner and disappeared from sight.

xXx

Back to the beginning, he thought. The couch certainly wasn't as comfortable as he remembered it. It was only for one more night, he reasoned, tomorrow he would be back in his own bed.

Alone.

He had heard her come downstairs twice already throughout the night, each time she had went into the kitchen and he had heard the tap running. The first time, he had tried to talk to her, but she had resolutely ignored him. The second time, Daniel hadn't even looked over at her, letting her think he was asleep. He wasn't about to plead for her to talk to him.

He heard her come downstairs for the third time and he closed his eyes, pretending to sleep. He was certain that she was coming down so often to try and spark a reaction, to have a fight about his stupidity and to put her in the right frame of mind regarding him, so she was ready to go home; well he wasn't rising to it.

He waited for the sound of the door swinging and kept his eyes closed; he snapped them open when he felt something press against the arm he had wrapped over the cover. Looking up he adjusted his eyes in the darkness, and saw her standing next to him, wearing one of the white shirts she hadn't managed to ruin and was nudging his arm with her knee.

When she saw he was awake, she stopped nudging him and looked down at him. Daniel shifted backwards on the sofa and pulled the cover back. Wordlessly, she slipped in next to him. As her back settled against his chest, he hooked his leg over hers and pulled his arm over, covering them both.

Before he lay back on the pillow, he leaned his head over to look at her, she turned round and he pressed his lips to her gently. Pulling back, he opened his mouth to try and explain. Willie brought her hand up and pressed it against his mouth, she shook her head.

When she brought her hand away, he remained quiet and she leaned up to kiss him again. It was slow, it was long, it was being burned to both their memories.

It was goodbye.


	16. Chapter 16

Wilhelmina was lying awake, still beside Daniel on the sofa, and she could feel his soft snores behind her. She had been awake for over an hour and she kept telling herself to get up and get dressed; to get out of his embrace before he woke up. His arm and leg where still hooked over hers and she was accustomed to waking up feeling his warmth against her; she knew this was the last time she would experience it.

Pushing aside the pang of regret when she realised their 'arrangement' was well and truly over, she gently lifted his arm and moved it from her; slipping her leg out from in between his as she did so. Daniel gave a snort in his sleep, she stood up and shoved a pillow where she had just lain, Daniel's arm curled around it and he settled back into sleep.

She walked around the side of the couch and forced herself not to look back at him, knowing that something inside her would scream at her to return to the space she had left next to him. A shadow passing outside and the crunch of footsteps caught her attention, she quickly pulled the door open, not wanting the person on the other side to knock and wake Daniel.

Jesse opened his mouth wide to greet her but she held a finger to her lips and motioned with her head for him to come inside. She closed the door quietly when he stepped inside and Jesse followed her into the kitchen.

"Well good morning legs." He grinned looking her up and down.

Wilhelmina looked down at the white dress shirt she still wore and shrugged, she didn't even care that she was in front of someone, who was still practically a stranger, in a crumpled shirt, with sleep mussed hair. She flicked on the coffee pot and pulled two mugs down, after a moment she pulled down a third; realising that she would have to wake Daniel soon if they wanted to be in time for the car Claire was sending.

"You're quiet this morning, this have anything to do with the fact that the hunk of prime rib slept on the couch." He pouted, in jest. "Aww...you two have a fight?"

"Drop it Jessica." She kept her back to him and watched the coffee drip through the filter and slowly fill the pot.

Jesse watched her for a couple of seconds before tentatively seeking her attention once more. "Willie...listen...I um, I have a teeny tiny confession."

He waited for some kind of response, any acknowledgement at all; but she just remained staring at the trickle of dark brown liquid running through the machine. "It seems James wasn't as discrete as I thought he would be with your little secret."

"Who'd he tell?" Wilhelmina's voice was decidedly uninterested.

"Helen." He admitted sheepishly.

"And by association I assume that means the whole street now knows who Daniel and I are?"

Jesse tensed up, steeling himself. "I'm afraid so."

Willie finally turned around and looked at him, Jesse had his eyes squeezed shut, his teeth clenched and bare, waiting for the explosion. He peeked on eye open when it didn't come. "Why aren't you striking up your cauldron to make a Jesse stew?"

"Because it doesn't matter...we're going home."

"Home? New York?"

"No Toto, Kansas; of course New York."

Jesse walked his fingers along the worktop as he moved closer to Willie. "Oh...sooooooo...you and Daniel taking your relationship out in the light of day?"

She shrugged and started filling the three cups. "There's nothing to take out, there's no relationship."

"Sure." He grinned.

"Didn't I tell you to drop it?" She snapped.

"Okay, okay." He held his hands up in surrender. "I give up. So when are you guys leaving? Do I have time to throw you guys an elaborate bon voyage party?"

"Unless you can throw it together in the next two hours, I'd say no."

His face fell. "Two hours? But...but..."

"You know I'm surprised you and Marc didn't hit it off, you two could have a real meeting of the minds; your conversational skills are certainly on par."

"How can you be leaving in two hours?"

"A car will come. We will get in it. Car drives back to New York." She enunciated each syllable loudly, as if talking to a child.

"Were you even going to tell me?" Jesse sounded hurt, the same way most people did when they realised they flew under her radar.

"Probably not, I hadn't thought about it; I've been too busy thinking of...never mind."

He smiled, understanding. "Too busy thinking of how you're going to make this work with Daniel when you get back to the big city?"

"How many times!" She groaned at him. "There is nothing to work out! This was...a convenient distraction that we will no longer need once we're back where we belong."

"You keep saying that, is it to convince me or yourself?"

She never got to answer, at that moment the door opened and Daniel stepped in the room. He looked from Wilhelmina to Jesse and back to Willie again. "Don't mind me." He told them as he stepped further to the room, He stopped next to Wilhelmina, his body side on to hers, and snatched up one of the mugs and filled it from the freshly brewed pot. He turned to Willie and raised the mug to her. "This _convenient distraction_ was just getting his coffee."

Willie closed her eyes and sighed as he walked back out the room. Jesse sidled up to her. "Are you sure he's thinking the same way you are? Pretty boy seems pissed."

"He knows." She confirmed, nodding slowly. "He's known all along, we both did, it's just..." She sighed louder. "Last night."

He waited for her to continue, when she didn't he nodded vigorously. "Last night..." He prompted her.

"I slept with him."

"Oh gee, shock horror, tell me something half the neighbourhood hasn't already heard or seen." He droned.

"No simpleton, I mean I _slept_ with him...that's it."

"And that changed things?"

"No." She shook her head upwards. "Not for me."

Jesse looked to the kitchen door, where they both knew Daniel was on the other side, listening to them. He smiled, sympathetically. "Well you might wanna tell him."

xXx

Whatever they thought of Daniel, they were wrong; he would not stand outside, straining to hear her every word, like some adolescent with a crush. He had marched out of the kitchen and straight upstairs to gather his things. It was several seconds before he realised that, with the exception of the suit he had worn when he arrived, he had no things to gather.

He heard the door open and close downstairs and assumed Wilhelmina had just shown out her mini-Marc. Daniel turned around and his gaze landed on the bed; the bed he had shared with the woman who gave him nightmares. He chuckled bitterly to himself, now that he was returning to New York, the real depth of his stupidity was more apparent than ever; his isolation mixed with his libido had conveniently allowed him to push the repercussions to the back of his mind.

She was going to try and use this, he knew she was, the next time he was feeling particularly weak or negated at Mode, she would pull their little excursion out the bag and try to use it to her advantage; it was what she did. Maybe she had been waiting for an opportunity to present itself for years, so she could do just that.

_Yeah Daniel, _his subconscious mocked him in a voice sounding disturbingly similar to Wilhelmina's, _She planned her boyfriend to abandon her, your wife to die and some woman to get executed in front of you both; just to get in your pants and use it against you. _

Okay, so it wasn't likely, he admitted; but it helped him distance himself.

He sat the coffee down and opened one of the closet doors; only two things were hanging in this particular closet. Looking odd and out of place, just as their wearers did. Daniel ran his eyes up and down the outfits he and Wilhelmina had worn on their arrival. They hung there alone, had not been looked at since their first day in their little dollhouse. The closet door had been shut and remained closed on Daniel and Wilhelmina, Editors in chief. They had been thrust together in the most obtuse situation and had to focus rather on being Daniel and Wilhelmina...what? What the hell were they? He always had a label to put to them, professionally: Editors, unwilling partners. Personally: Enemies, adversaries, rivals, so many words to describe them; why couldn't he think of one now?

Daniel wrenched the hanger off the rail and threw the suit on the bed and stared at it. He was still standing with his hands on his hips, when Wilhelmina appeared at the door. She watched him for several seconds before turning to look at her own attire, hanging solitary in the closet now. She sighed, following his train of thought, and walked to him. "Daniel." She tried softly and pulled on his bicep. He turned round robotically and looked her up and down.

"What?" He smirked, trying to raise an eyebrow; trying to emulate the look she gave when she was trying to make him feel small. "Looking for one final _distraction_ Willie?"

She narrowed her eyes at him and dropped her hand abruptly by her side. "No, I just-"

"Good, I'd say we're done being distracted wouldn't you?" He cut her off. "I'm going for a shower, I suggest you start getting ready."

"Thank you." Her words stopped him at the door and he turned around to face her. "Thank you for making it so much easier to go back the way we were." She spat maliciously, pissed at his attitude.

"Don't mention it." He snapped back and stormed from the room.

xXx

By the time Daniel had got out the shower and returned to the bedroom to dress, she was already downstairs and was preening her appearance in the mirror. She could see the woman of the last eight weeks disappearing before her eyes and she was glad; after Daniel's little outburst upstairs she didn't want any reminder of what they had let themselves become.

Daniel thudded down the stairs, suited and booted, with his jacket in hand and walked straight into the kitchen, ignoring her. She desperately wanted to go through there and rage at his churlishness; he was clearly blaming what had happened entirely on her, when she could vividly remember it was him who made the first move.

_I said upstairs._

Wilhelmina closed her eyes when the recollection swam, uninvited, to the front of her mind. She turned from the mirror and began folding the sheets that still covered the couch. Even though she had spent the last two months having to fend for herself in this house, she was still not one for menial tasks, but she was looking for anything to fill the void until the car arrived. She bundled them together and carried them to the foot of the stair, she sat them down in a neat pile on the bottom stair. They smelled like Daniel and now she could feel his scent clinging to her.

She turned abruptly and snatched her purse from the table, reaching inside she found her perfume and gave herself a generous spray, masking the smell of him that seemed to linger on her.

Wilhelmina walked to the back of the couch and placed her hands on the top of it, leaning against it; looking down at the space where she had made a stupid move and let herself sleep in his arms. She moved her gaze on the armchair and felt a smile form when she remembered Claire's face as she had draped herself over Daniel during the disastrous visit.

Turning slowly in the room, she could see herself at the foot of the stairs, slapping him for keeping the secret from him; even at the height of her anger she knew why he had done it. She was staring at the front door now, where they had stood arms around each other, each wearing their masks as they tried to convince their inquisitive neighbours they were a legitimate couple.

As she looked to the window, she felt her heart leap yet het stomach plummet at the same time when the familiar sheen of the black car pulled silently into the drive. Willie walked to the window and caught the driver's eye, holding a finger up to tell him they would be a minute.

She walked to the kitchen to get Daniel, not that she wanted to at this precise moment. His behaviour left her angry and cold. Hadn't they both agreed? Why then, was he acting as if this was sprung on him without his knowledge or consent? He was the one who had kept a secret, _she_ was the one with the right to be mad.

A part of her, a very naive, stupid part of her, had thought that even though their new 'arrangement' had to stop, that they would have at least reached a place where they wouldn't be at each other's throats constantly. As much as she enjoyed scheming, plotting, fighting; it got exhausting. She had thought that this may have helped them build, perhaps not a friendship, but an understanding; a civility. She was damned if she would be the one to initiate it, he wanted to act like the pathetic whiny ass he was before they came here? Then she could go right back too.

She pushed the door open roughly and held it with one hand. Daniel was leaning against the counter, staring around the room just as she had been doing in the living room. She watched as his eyes moved over the room; lingering on the table where they had shared their meals, where they had laughed and where they had first been together, she knew the images running through his head were the same as hers. She saw the corners of his mouth twitch in a smile as he looked into the small utility room, no doubt remembering the two of them flat on their ass after they proved they really didn't have a clue how to live the domestic life.

"The car's here." She told him in an even voice, breaking his trance.

He pushed himself from the counter and started to move, looking over his shoulder as he did so. He stopped, staring outside at the spot where they had been standing when their secret had been revealed. Not the secret which should have been paramount in their minds, the secret that they were in fact not who they said they were; but the secret that turned out to be so much more dangerous.

He could still see the look in his mother's eyes, the devastation, the disbelief; he could still clearly read the disappointment which had been etched on Betty's features. Even after that confrontation, they had stood in front of that window and decided to keep right on being together. The thing they were most worried about had come true and still they had stayed together. What else could happen? Nothing worse than what already had when his mother found out, the people he was protecting already knew so why were they leaving this behind? It couldn't be to protect anyone, that was a moot point.

He looked at her, ready to ask her all the questions he had just asked himself; they wouldn't come.

"Let's go home."

Daniel pushed himself from the counter and swept past her at the door, angling his body to ensure not even the smallest contact was made with her. Wilhelmina let the door swing back and followed him, her gait portraying much more confidence than what she was feeling. Daniel had his hand on the doorknob and twisted it. Before he opened the door, he turned to her and opened his mouth again, wanting to say something but unsure what.

Wilhelmina was also searching for something to say; but unlike him she really didn't want to mark the occasion. It was much easier if they kept up the animosity; much easier to pretend that what happened here would just fade away.

He could read her uncertainty and he swiftly snapped his mouth shut and wrenched the door open. Stepping out into the sunshine, they only made it a couple of steps before they halted.

"What the..."

"You didn't think we'd let the most entertaining couple this street's ever seen, go without a proper send-off did you?" Jesse grinned at them, leaning on the door of their car; the driver inside looking around bemused.

Daniel and Wilhelmina looked around all the couples who had gathered on the lawn and pathway. Some they had spent time with; Jesse and James, Helen and Howard (who were standing with his arm rubbing her back, obviously his little outburst was long forgotten), and some they knew only by sight.

"So...big shot Editors huh?" One of the unknown neighbours grinned.

Daniel stuffed his hands in his pockets. "Can't be that big shot, none of you figured it out." He smirked back at them.

"I did, I did!" Jesse waved his hand.

"Yeah and I still can't believe you didn't tell me." James pouted and smacked him on the arm.

"Uhm...with good reason. I mean...HELLO!" Jesse gestured with his arm at all the people who now knew thanks to his boyfriends loose lips.

"So you guys were faking?" Another asked.

"Yes." Both Daniel and Wilhelmina answered in unison.

"'Cos you were in Witness Protection?" A voice in the back called.

"Yes." They answered again.

"Wow you two really go in for the method acting don't you?" One of the men who had goosed Willie on the ass at the barbecue joked. Wilhelmina quickly threw him a look which silenced him immediately.

"So you're not a couple?" Helen clarified.

"Not in any sense of the word." Wilhelmina confirmed a little too quickly.

"But you..."

"Is it any of your business?" She snapped at them.

"You'll have to excuse her, she has a problem being nice to people when it isn't government ordered for her own safety." Daniel told them apologetically.

"And he has a problem being interesting for prolonged periods of time...hence what you saw. What else is there to do in this backwoods nightmare?"

There were audible gasps and sniggers from the onlookers and for the first time since the exchange began, Daniel turned and looked at her. She refused to give him the same courtesy and he saw her glaring at the crowd, the muscles in her neck working a little too hard; forcing herself to put up the front.

"Anyway...we should really go." Daniel started walking to the car.

"Wait, that's it? You're just leaving?"

"Were you even gonna tell us?"

"Will you ever come back?"

Daniel and Wilhelmina were caught in the line of questions and both shook their heads, bewildered. "Come back? Why...why would we? Why would you even want us to?" Willie asked them.

Jesse laughed. "You're really not used to being liked are you?"

She just looked at him; he was right, she wasn't used to it. Revered; yes, awed; sure, idolised; abso-freakin-lutely. Liked? Not so much, by Marc perhaps but even that was on thin ice at times. She swallowed when she realised the only time in her life when she was _liked_ was when she was pretending to be someone else.

"Uh...Daniel's right...we have to go." She started for the car, right behind Daniel.

James walked up and shook Daniel's hand, smacking his bicep as he did so. "Really not a couple huh?"

"Nope."

He chuckled and turned away, looking over his shoulder as he walked. "You were pretty damn convincing."

Daniel watched him go and the crowd start to disperse as he opened the car door and slid inside. Wilhelmina put her hand on the door, ready to follow.

"Willie?"

She turned around to face Jesse, the weak smile on his face reminding her so much of Marc. Without warning the man hugged her; she didn't return it, but didn't push him away. He squeezed her and leaned his head up until his lips were close to her ear.

"Stop kidding yourself."

He pulled away from her and gave her a knowing smile. He walked over to James and put his arm around him, leading him back across the street. She watched them go until they were at their own garden.

"Wilhelmina?" Daniel voice came testily from inside the town car.

She tore her eyes away from the couple and looked back up to the house she had called home for the past 2 months. For the smallest second, she wanted to be back in there; she squashed the urge down and forced it to the back of her mind, never to be revisited.

Stepping into the car, she slammed the door behind her. "Ready Ms Slater?" The driver asked her.

"Yes...back to reality, the quicker the better."

xXx

Claire fanned out the orchids she had placed in the vase near Daniel's front door; stepping back, she admired them, before snatching them up and moving them the opposite table. She took a couple out and tried to arrange them more evenly. Daniel wouldn't even notice that there were flowers in the apartment, of course, but she had been filling the three hours, since the driver had called to tell her they were on their way, with all manner of distracting tasks.

She was betting her son also wouldn't notice that the apartment was quite possibly the cleanest it had been since he moved in, but she was sure he would appreciate the reservation she made at Nobu's, his favourite.

She was still re-arranging the flowers, when the door opened. Spinning on the spot, she smiled widely as Daniel crossed the threshold. Her jubilation ceased when she saw the lines etched on his face, he closed the door and then stared into the depths of the apartment, looking right through his mother.

Claire watched him as his eyes drank in every facet of his home, and appeared pleased at none of it. She took a step forward and his eyes flashed to hers. "Hey mom." He said in a small voice, his mouth attempting a smile in greeting, before his muscles decided it wasn't worth the effort and it fell back into a firm set line.

His mother approached him quicker and wrapped her arms around him. "Welcome home darling."

Daniel let his Mom hug him for as long as it took him to count to five. He pushed her away gently and gave her a tight smile, he wasn't mad at her, he just wasn't in the mood for a welcoming committee.

Claire pretended she didn't notice the abrupt dismissal and brought a hand to his face. "I made late lunch reservations at-"

"Thanks Mom, I'm not hungry."

"But it's your favourite!" She smiled, trying to convince him. "Besides, you have to eat."

He shrugged. "I'll grab a sandwich later...is there food? I should go get some." He side stepped her.

"Daniel!" She called after him, worried. He obviously couldn't wait to get away from her. "Betty filled your kitchen."

Daniel stopped at the door and spun around. "Okay...okay well...I'm going for a nap."

"Daniel!" She called again.

"Don't Mom. Just don't. I'm not ready for your lectures."

"I wasn't going to."

He laughed. "Really, you have _nothing_ to say about the fact that I've been with Wilhelmina? Why do I find that hard to believe?"

"I wasn't, not now at least." She admitted.

"And you won't, because whatever happened...it's over...and it's between me and Wilhelmina."

Claire looked into his eyes and held his stare, she could see something unspoken behind them. He may have been foolish, strike that, he may have been _unbelievably stupid, _but what was done was done. Claire couldn't hold on to the anger and shame forever, she would create a wedge between her and her child, and she was damned if Wilhelmina Slater would be the cause of her losing another Meade from her life. As she continued to stare in his eyes, the feeling behind them became all too easy to identify; regret. Something told her he wasn't regretting what he should be though.

"Daniel...you are...you are _glad_ to be home aren't you?"

He looked at his mother for a long time. "I'm going for a nap." He turned and walked towards his bedroom.

xXx

Wilhelmina sat in the car, parked outside her building, and had her eyes trained on the windows, sixteen floors up, where she knew Marc would be waiting to welcome her home. When she had dropped Daniel off there had been so many words they both wanted to say to each other. She could still feel them caught in her throat, but they had stayed silent.

Daniel had turned to her and nodded, that was it; a nod. One singular, curt, jerk of the head was all he offered her as their time together came to an end. What did she offer him in return? Nothing. She hadn't given the slightest inclination she was sorry to see him go. Had not acknowledged him with even the smallest gesture or sound.

She didn't even let him get out of the car before she ordered the driver on to her building. She could still hear the slamming of the door, ringing in her ears and she sighed as she once again pictured Marc flouncing around her apartment; eager for the two of them to get back to her bidding at Mode.

Shaking her head, she turned her attention to the driver. "Once more."

"Again? Ms Slater we've been around the block three times already...you'll have to go in eventually."

"Who pays your salary!" She snapped at him. She wasn't ready to go back in, as soon as she was through her front door, as soon as she was home, the last 8 weeks disappeared.

"Once more."


	17. Chapter 17

Marc woke up with a serious crick in his neck, after falling asleep sitting upright on Wilhelmina's sofa. He had been in the kitchen the night before when he heard the door open and close; he had ran into the hall just in time to see her disappear around a corner and then heard her bedroom door close.

He had fallen asleep waiting for her to make an appearance, she hadn't; but he was damn sure that if he had dared leave his post she would have. He rolled his head around on his shoulders and gasped loudly when he felt a sharp pop somewhere in his neck.

"You know darling, I have a wonderful chiropractor who could snap your bones back in place in a jiffy."

He sprung up from the couch like a bullet from a gun and turned around to see her appraising him. "Willie! I didn't hear you get up...how are you?"

"Just spiffy, thank you." She answered sarcastically and dismissed any further probing by walking away from him.

He followed her into the kitchen, keeping his distance; he could tell from her rigid gait that she was tense, so tightly wound that she would look for the slightest excuse to go off on one, he wasn't about to be the one that gave her that excuse. "Coffee?" He offered her tentatively.

Wilhelmina eyed the coffee pot and ground her teeth; the smallest thing, one which had been part of her ritual for as many mornings as she could remember, was tainted as so much was. She would no longer be brought coffee by him, she would no longer pour two mugs when brewing it. It angered her how she had unwittingly let him touch these seemingly insignificant parts of her life.

"Tea." She told Marc curtly.

Marc silently obeyed her request; pointedly not questioning the change in routine. Inside he was itching to ask, he was dying to know _everything_; why tea? Why had she came home so much later than expected, why had she stayed in her room all night and of course there was the small matter of why she had spent the better part of the past two months sexing it up with Daniel Meade.

If he wanted to live until the afternoon however, these questions would remain unvoiced. At least for now.

"You looking forward to going back to work?"

"I suppose."

"You suppose?" Marc laughed but tried to turn it into a cough. "Wilhelmina, you are the woman that wants to ban weekends just so you can fit in more working hours." He busied himself at the counter, filling the teapot and placing it on the stove.

"Things change." She told him quietly yet sternly, as she sat at the head of her table.

Marc scoffed loudly. "I'll say."

"Meaning?" The word cut across the room sharply and Marc could see from the corner of his eye that she was staring at him through slits and her jaw was set firm.

The hand lifting the teapot faltered. "Uh...nothing. No no, nothing, just...you know."

"I know what?"

Calmly, he poured the hot liquid into a china cup and carried it over to Willie, he placed it down and then retreated far enough so that she couldn't scald him with it as he continued. "You know...when you left you and Daniel were at each other's throats and well...now, now you're at..." He twisted his face and flapped his hands in front of him. "_other_ parts."

He turned, swiftly on the spot and retreated, feeling her incredulity burning through the back of his skull as he delicately sliced a lemon. Reaching into the cupboard he pulled out a small jar of ridiculously priced honey and brought it and the lemon over to the table.

Setting it down, he pulled out a chair to the side of Wilhelmina and sat down; crossing his legs and clasping his hands on the surface. After focussing on his hands for far too long, he pulled together the courage to look at her and steeled himself for getting lemon squeezed in his eye.

He relaxed and his shoulder slumped when he saw Wilhelmina's eyes were on him but she was looking right through him, lost somewhere inside her head. He watched her take a deep inhale through her nose and when she sighed out the breath she brought her hand to rub across her forehead and squeezed her eyes closed. "What the hell did we do?" She spoke quietly.

"Well Willie, I believe they call it se-"

Her hand thumped down on the table as she let it fall from her head, she shot him a look which shut him up abruptly; the situation was clearly too raw to appreciate his brand of humour.

"I know what we did idiot! I mean...what have we done?"

"Willie I don't think-"

"You don't GET it do you!" She cut him off. "You...the others; _no-one_ was supposed to know. You finding out made it more real, which it was_ never _supposed to be. This conversation shouldn't be happening because you should know nothing for there to be a conversation about. Do you have any idea how...how..._stupid_ it makes me feel?"

"Stupid?" He tried to limit the words in his questions, knowing she would soon realise she was opening up and then clamp right back down again.

She seemed lost in her train of thought however and continued at a rapid pace. "Yes, stupid! I spent how many hours of my life dedicated to ruining that man? How many plans, schemes did I employ to make sure he knew where his rightful place should be, I made everyone know just how much I considered him beneath me and after, what, days? A couple of weeks? I let it all go to hell."

She fell silent and leaned back in the chair, pushing the tea away. She crossed her arms and stared at a spot on the table where a drop of the drink had fallen. Marc appraised her closely, he hadn't seen her so torn since Connor. She may not want to admit it to him, or even to herself, but he was pretty sure it wasn't feeling stupid that had her in this state. He cleared his throat and scooted forward slightly. "Willie, can I say something?"

He was surprised when the immediate 'no' didn't spring from her lips, as he expected it too. He didn't speak, however, aware he hadn't been given the green light. After watching the internal battle play across her eyes, her eyes met his and she raised her eyebrows, giving him permission.

He looked into those eyes, she may have appeared to give him the allowance to speak, but those eyes where the one thing he had learned to read over the years. She was asking him not to vocalize the thoughts they both knew she was thinking. She was asking him to be the strong one for her, in a reversal of roles, she was asking him to help her repair her armour.

He wanted her to be happy, he wanted her happiness as much as he wanted his own; but they both knew that happiness did not lie down the path she wanted to take. He needed to guide her back onto the right road. She wasn't ready or willing to hear what it was he really wanted to say. He smiled at her.

"I missed you."

xXx

"I missed you!"

Daniel chuckled and tried to straighten himself, but the arms had a strangle hold on his neck, He was getting a pain in his back from the odd angle he had to stoop at for her to get her arms around him; he was sure the balls of her feet must be painful by now too after standing on tip toe for so long in order to hug him.

"Betty...if you don't loosen your grip you'll miss me forever."

"Huh? Oh right." She let him go and came down from tip toes, grinning up at him as he rubbed his neck and took a much needed deep breath.

Betty had made up her mind last night that she would ask him nothing about Wilhelmina, he would tell her if her wanted to and if the two of them were going to act like nothing happened then she would respect that decision; and truthfully it wasn't a subject her mind appreciated visiting. Looking at him now though, all the questions that sprung to her mind were about him and Wilhelmina. _How are you gonna work together? Is it over? What were you thinking?_

"I missed you."

"You said that."

They stood opposite each other, Betty leaning back on her hands against her desk and he standing a few feet away, swallowing nervously; the two of them desperately trying to avoid _the elephant in the room._

"You do anything exciting while I was gone? Two months, that's a whole lotta Mode scandal I must have missed."

Betty smiled and squinted at him. "You'd be surprised how the drama level decreases when Wilhelmina isn't here."

They both laughed. Betty, gestured towards Daniel, happy now that the ice had broken and conversation was flowing. "What about you? Having to fit in to a completely new environment, what did you get up to?"

Betty closed her eyes, annoyed at her own stupidity as soon as the question left her mouth and shook her head. When she opened her eyes, Daniel was smirking at her. "Well that's one way to bring up the thing we were painfully trying not to bring up." He chuckled.

"Sorry."

Daniel sighed. "It's ok." He nodded. "So, come on, depress me; how much work do I have piled up waiting for me?"

Betty walked past him into his office and he followed her, Daniel walked around his desk and sat down. A strange feeling came over him, like he had never been away but at the same time it felt years since he had sat there. Betty leaned over his shoulder and clicked open his browser on the laptop. "Respond to these." She brought up his email account; she had obviously been clearing them in his absence because only 27 remained in the inbox, from the last couple of days.

Daniel blew out a breath between pursed lips and nodded, linking his hands behind his head. "And then?"

Betty shrugged. "Grab a bagel?"

He sat up straight in his chair. "You mean that's it?"

She nodded, sliding her glasses up her nose. "We did what you told us to do. Marc and I haven't had to make any arrangements for you since we didn't know when you would be back. No one in New York requested meeting because they thought you were in Europe and any European designers who requested you we just told them that _regrettably both Ms Slater and Mr Meade have prior engagements_ and sent Alexis to deal with it or conference called them in with your mother. The issue goes to print tomorrow, shipped on Wednesday, on the stands by Thursday, everything's like clockwork boss."

She stood back with her hands clasped behind her back, beaming at him like a toddler awaiting praise for some indecipherable drawing they did at pre-school. Daniels eyes were wide, in what Betty assumed was shock and awe that they had managed to do all this in his absence; in fact it was panic, a huge workload awaiting him was just what he had wanted. Throwing himself into his work meant less time for his mind to wander to territory he promised himself he wouldn't.

He wanted to give Betty the pat on the back she so obviously wanted and duly deserved, but how could he when everything he had told himself not to think about came screaming at him as soon as the panic had set in. A knock at the door startled him and he whipped his head around.

"Heyyyy boss man." Amanda sang at him, smiling wide, one hand pressed at the top of the door frame, the other on her hips. "Guess I can't be taking any more naps in here now you're back huh?"

"Why not? I do." He smiled and ran his hand around the nape of his neck, noting the rivulets of sweat that had gathered.

"Anyway, you want me to book you a car?" Amanda asked him.

"What for?"

Amanda gave him a 'duh' look. "You and Wilhelmina have to go for your debriefing...not that you haven't debriefed already." She grinned at him.

Daniel bit the inside of his cheek and looked down, Betty gave Amanda a scathing look. "What?" Amanda shrugged.

"Tact, Amanda." Betty pointed out.

"Huh?"

"We were avoiding that particular topic of conversation."

"What topic? Oh, you mean we're not talking about Daniel and Wilhelmina getting groiny in happy family land for two weeks while we ran the magazine and kept their location a secret?"

"How very succinctly put." The voice from behind her made her spin and almost sprain her ankle, twisting in her stilettos. "and yes...that topic." Wilhelmina glared at her.

Amanda stared at her, fear radiating from her pores and snapped her head back to Daniel, and continued looking between the two until eventually she ducked around Wilhelmina and the hurried clack of her heels could be heard as she ran away.

Betty felt the atmosphere in the room change dramatically, it was always charged when these two were in the same room, but in a highly different way. She was caught in the crossfire and didn't know whether to stay and act as a buffer or silently leave. Neither could successfully meet the other's eyes for more than a couple of seconds before shifting their attention to something, _anything,_ else in the room.

"Apparently we need to go to the station, Marc's booked us a car. I can book you a separate one if you'd prefer."

Daniel made a big show of opening and closing drawers on his desk, pretending to be looking for something. "Uh...no, no that's fine. When do we go?"

"It's downstairs just now."

He slammed the drawer closed and looked back at her; their eyes connecting solidly for the first time since she appeared at the door. Both read the same worry and panic reflected in the stare; they had hoped for more time.

"Ok, sure, let me grab my coat." Daniel said in the calmest voice he could muster.

She nodded once and walked away from the door, that was the most civilised conversation Betty had ever seen them have and she didn't like it one bit.

xXx

Claire watched her son press the button for the elevator, just moments after she had seen Wilhelmina leave. She squashed down the feeling that rose in her chest when she thought of her child chasing after the woman she held accountable for so many wrongs in her own life.

Daniel hadn't spoken to her since he dismissed her last night and both his and Wilhelmina's return to Mode had been understated to say the least. She had expected a flurry of activity in both offices; Wilhelmina trying vehemently to squeeze as much of her own vision into the final layout before it went to print tomorrow and Daniel trying to keep up and make sure she didn't completely re-do the entire issue in 24 hours; which although difficult, they all knew she could do.

Claire had observed them both come into the office, thankfully separate, and both had walked to their offices as if it were any other day. Wilhelmina hadn't barked at a single intern on her way down the tube and Daniel didn't even look in the direction of the half dozen Russian models that filed past him outside the conference room. They had both been uncharacteristically quiet, the only real activity she had seen from either of them had been their sudden departure from the office.

She didn't want her son to freeze her out like he had done last night, but she was damned if she was going to let his madness continue. She took a determined step towards the elevator; she felt her elbow be grabbed gently and she was lightly pulled around.

"They're going to the police station, that's all...remember?" Marc reminded her softly.

With a sigh and a nod, she visibly relaxed. She looked down at the mock up in her hands as if she had just realised it was there and clasped it tighter. "The mock-up...I was just coming to see if Wilhelmina has her letter from the Editor."

"I already submitted that." Marc told her, a questioning look painted on his face.

"Yes, but that was the one she wrote at the house was it not? Now she's back and has seen the issue..."

"It's not changing."

"Well I think I'll leave that for her to decide, after all I think if she reads it again she'll-"

"She read it." Marc cut her off. "This morning, she's not changing a thing. Go to print Mrs Meade, she's said all she's going to say."

Marc walked away from her, leaving her standing in between the two empty offices. Claire looked at them both in turn, almost able to see the battles that had played out in each room, when Daniel and Wilhelmina had fought at every little turn, and wondered if they would ever occur again.

And would it be such a bad thing if they didn't.

xXx

"Say that again?" Daniel leaned further across the table, his eyes narrowed and his clasped hands gripped tightly.

"You heard me Mr Meade." Officer Harper said firmly, without a trace of apology in his voice.

"A movie? You mean, I don't...a fucking _movie!"_

The officer sighed heavily. "Look, we understand how inconvenient this has-"

"INCONVENIENT!" Daniel bellowed, incredulously.

"-been." The other man continued through the outburst. "But what you must understand is that we were acting in what we assumed were your best interests. After all, it was you and Ms Slater who came to us with claims of witnessing a murder."

Daniel chuckled mirthlessly. "So wait, you're blaming us?"

"That's not what I'm saying. I'm merely stating; you, along with the NYPD, believed a serious crime had occurred."

Daniel leaned further over the table and spoke in an exaggerated whisper. "Well, unless I'm mistaken, neither Wilhelmina or I were the ones who mistook a busboy for a fucking wannabe gangster."

"We weren't the only ones making errors here Mr Meade." He countered, his anger rising. "Thanks to you and Ms Slater revealing your identities, the holding location you were staying in is now a known safe house. One which can no longer be used, do you know what it costs the United States Government trying to source secure locations?"

"We revealed nothing, you said yourself we're high profile. Were we supposed to monitor every TV station our neighbours watched."

The officer shook his head wearily, he had expected an outburst from the woman sat across from him, but he had assumed that Daniel Meade was by far the more amiable of the two. "I assume you'll be filing a complaint against the precinct?"

"Ya think!" Daniel exclaimed, wide eyed.

Officer Harper stood up, fastening his jacket. "I'll get the relevant forms."

He left the room and Daniel flung himself back in the chair. "We're going to sue the ass off them."

When he didn't hear an affirmative response from Wilhelmina, he turned to face her. She was sitting next to him with her arms folded and staring resolutely ahead. It had been like that in the short car journey over as well, only then he too was maintaining a steely silence.

"Willie, did you hear me? We're going to-"

"Sue, yeah I heard you." She shifted in her chair to look at him and studied his face intently. "Why?" She shrugged.

"Why?" He laughed. "Why are we suing them? Wilhelmina we were out of the loop for _two months_, we run a publishing empire for God sake, this could have cost us millions."

"But it didn't...that's not why."

"Well...well what about the fact that we thought we saw someone fucking die Wilhelmina. We thought we saw a girl get a bullet in her head right in front of us."

She shook her head. "And that's the fault of the NYPD how? That's not why either."

Daniel threw his hands up. "What's with all the reasoning? I thought you of all people would relish having someone to blame for-" He stopped himself.

"To blame for what Daniel?" She sat up straighter in the chair. "Come on, say it, blame for what?"

He deflated in his chair and looked down at Wilhelmina's knees, unable to look in her eyes. He shrugged. "If they hadn't messed up, if they'd caught up with him a little sooner, done their research a little better, we would never have had to be there, we would never have..." He looked up at her finally, unable to finish his sentence.

Wilhelmina leaned into his face, her arms braced on the side of her chair. "That's why." She whispered harshly at him.

She stood abruptly and picked up her coat and bag, marching to the door she wrenched it open and pushed past Officer Harper who was returning at the same moment.

He watched her hurry past him with a confused look and then back to Daniel, the unspoken question written on his face. He stepped into the room and let the door swing closed, taking a step over to Daniel he handed him the forms. "Fill these out and give them to the desk clerk, they'll give you a copy to take to your lawyers. Congratulations Mr Meade;" He shot at him, voice dripping with disdain. "You stand to get a large settlement out of this, I wonder how many officers and rehabilitation programmes this will cost one of the hardest working precincts in New York City."

Daniel snatched the form and laid it in front of him, leaning over with his chin rested in his fists to read the document; not really seeing the words and feeling the hostility emanate from the other man in the room.

Harper looked him up and down and felt his lip curl; he knew there had been a major fuck up on their part. He thought people would understand that they had merely been fulfilling their duty to _Protect and Serve_, that they would at least see the silver lining that a girl had not in fact lost her life.

He had hoped for some humility.

"Call us when you have representation." He shot at Daniel's ignorant form and stormed from the room before his anger threatened to overcome him.

When Daniel heard the door close he leaned back again with the paper now in his hand. He read the first few lines over and over, they wouldn't seep through to his brain.

Why was he doing this? Did he really need more money? Shouldn't he be thankful that this was all a misunderstanding? They were no worse off for it financially, all the magazines within Meade were flourishing as ever. Was this nothing more than a personal attack because of what he had allowed Wilhelmina and himself to become?

Was he the one who was, in fact, looking for someone to blame?

He looked at the paper held tightly in his hand and saw the expression on Wilhelmina's face when she had accused him of that very thing.

xXx

"Did Mr Fancy Ass leave that form with you Steve?" Harper asked the clerk as he returned from lunch.

"Nothing here Sir."

The officer grumbled as he walked back to the interrogation room. "Why am I not surprised?" He mumbled to himself. "Poor little rich boy probably had someone picking up after his ass his whole life. Too good to even hand in a scrap of fucking paper. Probably too much strain for his manicured little hands to even-" He pushed open the door and stopped mid sentence.

Officer Harper grinned at the ripped paper in the centre of the desk.


	18. Chapter 18

_A/N – I know! Shock Horror! An update! I know I said I wouldn't be as long this time and clearly that turned out to be a lie LOL! But I promise I won't wait so long for the next chapter (that's if anyone's still interested after all this time! lol) After SH I lost the bug but it seems to be back...I knew I couldn't leave these guys forever. Not now, not yet; just sometimes it takes a while to get bitten by that bug and find something in your own voice to put on that horrible blank page. Thanks to dardeile for betaing and being generally awesome and to the rest of my girlies for motivating me to write again, you know who you are. =D_

"Okay, I officially hate this more than the fighting." Marc dropped his pen loudly and watched it fall off his desk.

Betty too, followed it with her eyes as it rolled along the floor and stopped at her foot. She moved her eyes from it, back to the pad she was meant to be making notes on but in her distracted state had only managed to write her signature several times in a variety of styles; and also to her alarm had written; _Betty Grubstick, Betty Rossi and Betty Hartley._ She screwed up the paper with her adolescent scrawling on it and dumped it in the trash can. Retrieving Marc's pen, she threw it back to him.

"I know, but we can't complain can we? We wanted this, we wanted peace between them."

"Peace? Peace, yes. Complete and utter avoidance to the point we have twice as many meetings, no. Anyway this all has a very _calm before the storm _kind of feeling; and if Wilhelmina's usual temper is anything to go by it will be the Storm of the Century."

"What do you mean?"

"I meeeean." He sang the word at her. "That Wilhelmina Slater keeping her temper in check is like trying to keep Amanda away from carbs; she can do it for a short time but it's only a matter of time before I find her face down in a big ol' bowl o' nachos."

"Your analogies make no sense, you know that right?"

Marc groaned and stood up, grabbing Betty's chair and wheeling it until she was practically pressed against the glass. "Look in there Betty." She followed where he was pointing and squinted at the small portion of Wilhelmina's office which was just visible from her position. She could just about make out the woman sat behind the desk, banging away on the keys of her laptop. "When have you ever known a day to pass without the two of them fighting, insulting each other or flinging throwaway barbs?"

"Yeah but-"

"And not just each to each other, don't try and tell me Daniel's never had a little bitching session with you about our immaculately dressed tyrant over there."

Betty shrugged. "So?"

"So, have you heard him say one bad thing about her since they came back?"

She shook her head slowly, Marc tilted his head at her. "Well...neither has she. Wilhelmina Slater not seeking Daniel out just to insult him is like me not chasing that hot UPS guy who comes in, or Amanda not chasing that hot UPS guy that comes in; or you not chasing a burrito."

Leveraging her legs against the glass, she pushed herself away from the windowed wall and spun in her chair to face Marc. "Okay, I get it, it's unnatural, it's eerie; but I think you're reading too much into it. You don't think they're just embarrassed about what happened? I don't see this unreserved anger you're talking about; I see humiliation, I see regret...I see denial."

Marc stood up and folded his arms, looking through the glass to where his boss still sat working. "Aw dear sweet Betty, every emotion Wilhelmina represses manifests into anger in much the same way that yours turn into a need for potatoes or Daniel's to sleeping with models young enough to be his daughters. Trust me if they don't snap out of this soon..." He shuddered. "I don't want to think about it."

"Think about what?" Amanda strutted into the room, perched on Betty's desk, lifted the chicken wrap Betty had brought in for lunch and began eating it.

Marc vaguely gestured to where they had been observing Wilhelmina through the glass. "Oh nothing, just the inevitable eruption from our star crossed lovers over there."

Amanda nodded and chewed exaggeratedly, trying to clear her mouth of food to speak. "Well, sure it's gotta be hard." She mumbled through another mouthful. "I mean suddenly developing feelings for someone you thought you'd spend the rest of your life hating; that's tricky enough for you to deal with on your own, never mind having everyone else knowing and condemning you for it."

Marc and Betty both laughed. "Amanda, they don't have _feelings_." Betty smiled and she and Marc shared an amused look. "Like I was saying to Marc, they're probably just embarrassed that we know what happened, They were supposed to come back and act as if nothing happened and we blew that out the water when we paid our little visit. It's shame...that's all."

Amanda looked between them, both looking at her like she was an idiot, she swallowed the last morsel of Betty's lunch and jumped from the desk. "Are you kidding, you did read her letter from the editor didn't you?" Lifting the cookie and soda, which was all that remained of Betty's meal, she shook her head and rolled her eyes. "You know sometimes it's really hard being the beauty _and_ the brains of this little threesome." She cracked open the soda and left them alone, watching the space she had just vacated.

"I wish she wouldn't always steal my lunch." Betty lamented as her stomach growled.

"I wish she would stop calling us a threesome." Marc shivered in disgust.

Betty waited until Marc had finished his little display. "She's totally off base isn't she?"

"She totally is."

Betty deflated. "She's totally right isn't she?"

"She totally is."

xXx

When Daniel's phone rang, he was grateful for the distraction; why was it the only four people who knew, besides him and Wilhelmina, were the four sets of eyes he could feel on him constantly. "Daniel Meade."

Before he had even finished saying his full name he heard the high pitched laugh of his sister down the phone, which still held traces of the deeper chuckle he remembered from his brother. "You're kidding right?" She didn't even offer a hello. "Daniel, you know I love you but dear God!"

"Hello to you too."

"You know, at first I thought Mom was drinking again; so come on, is this it then? The big one? Do you looove her?" She was making fun of him and loving every second. "Do I need to buy a new hat? Make sure the ceremony isn't in the winter will you? I'm much more a spring complexion. Need to look my best for the photos."

"Shut up Alexis." He said quietly, but she continued talking over him.

"Hey I get it, I get it, I really do. Mr and Mrs Johnson, tucked away in the suburbs, nothing to do but each other; I mean, they pretty much handed you the roles to play. So did she cook your meals? Darn your socks? Aw, did she rub your feet?" Alexis kept on laughing and he knew there were tears of hilarity in his sister's eyes.

"I said shut up Alex." He said with slightly more force.

"I gotta say though, kudos to you, you managed to get through it without your manhood falling victim to frostbite."

"I SAID SHUT UP!"

Silence fell on both ends of the phone. From her end, Alexis stared at the receiver and listened to her younger brother's uneven breathing. Daniel dipped his head to avoid the stares of the people outside his office who had heard his little outburst. He rubbed a hand down his face and spoke into the phone in a low voice.

"Just don't Alexis, okay?"

"Daniel...Dan, what's going on?" He heard the tone of her voice change from mocking to concern.

"Nothing, nothing's going on. Not anymore at least."

He could practically see his sister sitting up straighter in the chair as she continued. "Daniel? Don't lie to me, you never could. I will fly over this ocean and give you a wedgie if that's what it takes."

When her brother remained quiet on the other end, she started to worry. "Daniel, come on, talk to me."

Daniel huffed and leaned back in his chair. "I can't, this isn't just some random girl I like, it's..." He fell quiet again. "See! I can't even finish the sentence, that's how absurd it is."

Alexis smiled into the phone. "So...you like her huh?" She said softly, although inside a war was waging. "Tell you what. Seen as you can ignore the fact that I faked my own death and have a vagina; I'm sure I can get round the fact that it's Wilhelmina you're talking about."

"You're sure?"

"Try me."

Daniel sighed and placed the phone on the desk for a moment, crossing the room he locked his door and pulled the curtain over to shield himself from prying eyes. Walking back to the desk, he sat down and picked up the phone. "Okay..."

xXx

Wilhelmina poured over the sales figures in front of her; not as good as if she had her usual input, but not as bad as she feared. Still, a good chunk of New York and beyond had now read her letter from the Editor. When she thought of that letter, the uncomfortable wave of an emotion she couldn't quite place bubbled in the pit of her stomach. She had read it when she had returned to the office and no matter what she told Marc back at the safe house, anyone who knew of their situation could easily read between the lines and see the real content. Including Daniel.

She had written a second draft when she had returned and was about to submit it when something had stopped her; she didn't know what exactly and if she could identify the feeling right now she'd smack it back down or die trying. But she had kept the original in; the original she had written when she was as far removed from her life as she had ever been. When she had let herself fall into the pantomime she and Daniel had called life for two months and where she had foolishly not looked to the future and seen what a quagmire they were sinking into.

"You've been uncharacteristically quiet." A probing voice came from the doorway. Claire stood there with her arms crossed.

Wilhelmina watched her and willed one of the quick flying insults to come to the front of her mind. She sighed when it wouldn't come and closed the lid of her laptop, looking off to the side. "What do you want Claire?"

"Things are different between these walls. Something is shifting in our little universe and I need to know what."

Claire came into the office and shut the door, without invitation, and walked slowly to the chair in front of Wilhelmina's desk. Willie watched her all the way, until she sat down and clasped her hands on the table in front of her. "Tell me."

"Tell you what Claire."

Claire shut her eyes and counted to ten, stopping herself from snapping. "Don't make me spell it out. Daniel refuses to tell me what happened out there, how you two...changed. I have to know what happened so I can put him right."

Wilhelmina scoffed. "You make it sound like I damaged him."

"Didn't you?"

Wilhelmina took a deep breath, she too trying not to lose her patience. "I know you may find this hard to believe, but I'm not the bad guy this time. There's no villain in this piece, just two very stupid people who need a little time to get over their humiliation."

Claire nodded slowly. "You have been pushed into a grave in front of a hundred people, you have been publicly fired and ridiculed on television. Daniel has been caught fornicating behind a Peter Pan statue and been made to jump around in a pink rabbit suit for the amusement of New York's elite...I don't recall either of you hiding away from those embarrassments."

"What do you want from me Claire?"

"I want you to go back to normal, because this prolonged silence from you both is more unsettling than anything I may have learned about you two in that house. You have both kept your distance and your cards close to your chest since you returned; Daniel, I can almost understand, but you, you never miss an opportunity to remind me of anything and everything you do that causes me discomfort and yet...not one word."

Wilhelmina shook her head rapidly, a confused look on her face. "Because it isn't about you." Wilhelmina told her quietly, averting her eyes again.

She stood up and circled the desk, Claire remained staring ahead as Wilhelmina passed her shoulder and walked the length of the room. "Wilhelmina..."

"No Claire." She cut her off. "You asked us not to bring it back to New York...and we didn't."

She still didn't turn around even as she heard the door open and close. Lost in thought, she distractedly fingered the magazine which lay on the table. Looking at it properly, she slammed it shut as she recognised the cover of this month's Mode. This was one issue she never wanted to see again.

A soft vibration in the deep pockets of the coat she wore, roused her from thought. Looking at the name, she ran her thumb over it briefly. Oh how she wished her daughter was still here; but she was gone, pushed out by the woman her son now had under his skin. She flipped it open.

"Well?"

Claire sighed down the phone at Alexis and swivelled in the seat to watch Daniel and Wilhelmina; both outside their respective offices talking to their assistants, both pretending the other wasn't in their eye line.

"You're right...I wish to God you were wrong, but you're right."

xXx

Daniel felt better after his talk with Alexis; granted he didn't actually say much but it felt good to remember sometimes that underneath all the bullshit they had been through; the brother who had tried to best him at every turn was now a sister who cared for him deeply.

He had tried to vocalise what he had been thinking but the words would jumble somewhere between his brain and his mouth and all that would come out was a lot of half finished sentences and thoughts which were not fully formed. Alexis, to her credit, had ceased mocking him and had not given him the grief he was expecting either.

Daniel took the post-its with his messages from his assistant and started for the conference room. Flicking through the brightly coloured bits of paper, they fell from his hand as he collided with Wilhelmina; whose own notes fell from her hand.

Marc and Betty from their office, Claire still sat in Wilhelmina's and Amanda from the desk in front of Daniel's; all watched the collision from their vantage point. Wilhelmina remained standing and crossed her arms, looking over Daniel as he bent down to retrieve the scattered paper. She caught Amanda's eye, who immediately picked up the phone to conduct a very loud fake conversation.

Daniel stood and began rifling through the notes, concentrating on separating them, instead of looking at her. Sorting them into two piles, he held hers out, still without meeting her eye. She snatched them from him and walked past him. She was marching determinedly until she saw Marc and Betty still watching her. She stopped, her arms swinging by her sides and gave a dramatic sigh; turning around, she saw Daniel still where she had left him.

"Daniel." He turned around. "This is ridiculous." She jerked her head towards his office and walked into it.

She came to stand in front of the desk just as Daniel closed the door behind him. He stayed at the door and she at the desk, her hands were behind her, nails scraping along the glass of the desk and Daniel had his arms tight across his chest. "You had something to say or you just missed the decor in my office?"

She smirked at him and gave a particularly loud scratch against the glass top. "We have to work together Daniel; co-captain the ship, if you will. We can't keep doing this little dance around each other."

"You're the one avoiding me Wilhelmina; normally I can't go half a day without you smashing my door open demanding something or other. Since the police station I haven't heard a single snarl from your cage."

Irked that he had returned to their once familiar sparring before she had a chance to, she felt her irritation rise to the surface. "Well call me old fashioned but when a guy's reaction to sleeping with you is to sue the ass off someone...it doesn't really put him in a girl's good graces." She pushed off from the table and strode across the room. "Forget it. Move." She ordered him out of her way.

Wilhelmina grabbed Daniel's bicep and pulled him out the way, her other hand pulled the door open, but Daniel slumped back against it; closing it firmly. "Daniel, move I'm not in the mood for games."

"I'm not bringing a suit against the station."

Her hand fell from him and she angled her body around slightly to face him. "You're not?"

Daniel shook his head slowly and turned his face to meet her eyes. "I'm not."

The feeling that presented itself so much in the past few weeks returned with abundance; magnified ten-fold. Keeping it in Connecticut had been stupid idea that both should have known would never work; that both _had_ known would never work. Wilhelmina saw Daniel's eyes dart down to her lips as her tongue came out to moisten them. "Why?" She asked in a croaky voice she never knew she had.

Daniel shrugged deeply, still surreptitiously glancing at her lips. "Well you know...lawsuits." His voice was but a whisper, not concentrating on the words coming from his mouth; merely wanting to seek what he had tried to convince himself he could go without. "They're obtrusive...public."

As if the spell had been broken, Wilhelmina took a step back and fixed her eyes upon his; firming her jaw. Daniel's eyes searched hers and he shut them tightly when his choice of words screamed back at him. "I mean I..."

"Wouldn't want that would we?" She pulled hard on the door handle, dislodging him this time. "Waste of time and money anyway."

As her heels could be heard retreating back to her own office, Daniel slammed the door shut so hard the wall shook. One thing was clear, whether they acted on it or not; they had not left it in Connecticut.

xXx

During the time Daniel and Wilhelmina had been in the office, Claire had crossed to join Marc and Betty. All three had watched as the two figures in the glass room had been shielded from sight by the door. Whatever had been said or happened had clearly not ended well judging by Wilhelmina's march back across the office, and the echo of the door barging loudly through the office.

"Are you sure about this?" Betty asked Claire, unconvinced.

Claire never moved her gaze from her sons form, now pacing the breadth of his office. "I've never been less sure of anything in my life."

"Then why?" Marc questioned.

Claire smiled to herself, only people without children could ask such questions. "Because my son is not happy. Book the cars Marc."

Marc retreated to his own desk and Claire pulled out her cell. Betty watched her, unsure of what she was thinking as she set her plan in motion. Claire held the cell to her ear and waited for the call to pick up. She gave Betty what she hoped was an encouraging smile when it did.

"Detective Harper please."

xXx


	19. Chapter 19

_**Authors note after chapter.**_

When Daniel was a boy, it used to annoy him to no end that he never remembered his dreams. Alex would always tell him of dreams where he was the hero in some epic tale, outlandish ones where he was an astronaut, a cowboy, or a princess (these ones made so much more sense now) or even just ones where the four of them sat down to a family meal and no one left after a mysterious phone call, got drunk or cried at the table. He used to find himself inventing night time adventures of his own; Alex never believed him though.

Right now though, Daniel would kill to once again experience a dreamless sleep. He could have handled it if he could sleep right through it and awaken fresh in the morning; but he was finding himself jolting awake frequently throughout the night, the sheets clinging to his clammy body. His dream was always the same; he was alone in his bed, just like now, and he would turn to his side. That's when he would see her lying there next to him, although in the dream he was always sure he was alone to begin with, he was never surprised to find her there.

She was always sleeping on her back, her head tilted to him and her hand lying up near her face. Daniel would slide along the bed until he was close enough to feel the heat coming from her body. He would rest his face on the palm lying face up on her pillow and watch her sleep, he had no idea for how long; time not accurately conveyed in his dreams. After drinking in her features as she lay beside him, he would turn his head and press a kiss to her palm and snake his other arm across her stomach to massage her hip.

He would move his kisses down from her hand, fleeting over her wrist and carry on down her arm. Each time his lips met her skin he would let it linger longer; inhaling her, tasting her. When he worked back up the crook of her arm, on to her shoulder, he darted his tongue out to trace her collarbone. It was at this point, always this point, when he would feel the hand in his hair and he would be pulled upward to look in her darkened eyes before pulling his head down to meet his lips with her own.

It was so vivid, so real, that every night he was sure he was living it. He could feel the pressure of her hands pushing at his shoulders to turn them over, could feel her knees digging at his waist as she climbed on top of him. He could see her clearly as she brought her hands down to the hem of the silky vest she wore and lifted it up and over her head and even smell her perfume as she leaned down to kiss him. He could also hear his own voice, clear as a bell when he asked the question he asked every night. "Should we have tried?"

She would sit back on his lap and pull her up to him, kissing him slowly, running the warmth of her lips over his; pull back, look at him with a smile and open her mouth to answer him.

And he would wake up.

Breathing shallowly, he ran his hands through his hair and felt as if he had just stepped out of the shower. He ripped the soaked sheet from him and the cold air assaulted him, relieving him from the stifling heat and making him shiver. Standing up, his body felt limp under his command, he was yet to have a full night sleep since he returned. It was 5am, no point in going back to bed, by the time he cleared his head enough to go back to sleep it would be time to get up.

Walking the length of his apartment to go into the large bathroom, he felt the emptiness of it acutely; which was absurd in itself as he had bought this place after Molly died. He had never had anyone stay since he had moved in, it had always been empty, but right now it seemed desolate and impersonal. This had been his comfortable life and the past eight weeks had been the pretence; why now, did it feel the opposite?

He should have kept his mouth shut in the office; they had been leading somewhere, be it towards a punch or a kiss it was leading somewhere. He should have shut the hell up and at least now he would know conclusively. Even as he thought it, the little voice in his head mocked him; a kiss or a punch? Who was he kidding, he knew where that had been heading, they both did, one more second and had he not opened his mouth he knew it would have been claimed by hers.

Which is why it was a good thing he did speak up, no matter how much he regretted it in the moment. However much he, or they, wanted it, continuing it would be a mistake to put it mildly. He wasn't over it yet and from the reaction of their close proximity today, neither was she; but they would be. They worked together, closely, he was sure that there would be more 'moments' like the one today. He would just have to make sure he stopped them before they escalated.

xXx

Wilhelmina woke up at her usual time after a full night of deep, uninterrupted sleep; helped by the horse tranquilliser sized sleeping pill she had taken the night before. That wasn't unusual she rationalised, she had taken them on several occasions before; she omitted, even to herself, that she had last needed them when Connor had left, '_died'_, and then left again.

Her mornings in the apartment were becoming shorter and shorter in the week since her return, a part of her unable to deal with the barren sterility she once again lived in. Each morning in the car she would chide herself for it; for what exactly was she escaping to? She was running from a home she could no longer stand into an office she felt even more awkward in. Out of the frying pan and into the fire.

That was what made her mad above all else; not what she and Daniel had done, not that Marc and his little groupies knew, but that thanks to it she now felt out of place in the one place that she always felt belonged. Mode had always been an extension of her, or she of it, all she knew was where one ended the other began and now thanks to the tension she and Daniel had created she now felt as comfortable there as she would in Betty Suarez's living room.

At least now, in her office with the door closed and drapes pulled, she could create the illusion of comfort in these walls. As long as she still _looked_ in control; that was half the battle.

She found herself zoning into the end of whatever Marc was telling her. "...but I told them you were unavailable."

Willie shook her head, eyes closed and hand pressed to her temple. "Told who I was unavailable?"

"A couple of design houses are showing some mid season designs, nothing fancy and it's not in the city so I assumed-"

"Do I pay you to assume?" She snapped. Inside she felt a little guilty for responding so sharply with him, hadn't she missed him while she was away? As usual, however, her inner bitch was in control of running her mouth and she was taking it out on whoever sat in front of her; and this time, _every time_, it was Marc.

"No but I thought with it being out of town and you-"

"I don't pay you to think either, I pay you to do. So DO see to it that a car is booked and DO make sure your pitch is ready tomorrow morning." The widening of her eyes and lifting of her brow told him the conversation and the meeting was over.

Marc picked up the folder in front of him along with Wilhelmina's appointment book and headed out the office to give them back to her latest assistant. Walking back to his office, he caught Claire's eye and winked, his mouth lifting in a half smile. He saw the woman fiddle with the pendant on her necklace and give a great steadying sigh as she made her way into Daniel's office.

That had been too easy with Wilhelmina, he was actually a little disappointed at how easy. When Amanda had suggested reverse psychology he dismissed it as far too obvious and cliché; but, as she pointed out to him, it worked before with their 'couples counselling'. Marc chuckled to himself as he pushed open the glass door of his office; one way or another, he would make sure Mandy got that chimp.

"Well?" Betty and Amanda chorused when the door closed behind him.

"The hook is baited."

Betty pushed away from her desk, her chair rolling across the floor toward him. "Did she take the bait?"

"We're going fishing?"

Marc had his mouth open to answer Betty, but paused long enough to give Amanda a look and a sigh. "She's going, you booked the car right?" He returned his attention to Betty, who nodded.

"Yep, two town cars booked and waiting; although, I don't see why Ms Meade didn't just send them in the same one. Or better yet, forget this plan altogether." Betty started stacking folders, on top of each other, loudly.

He sighed theatrically. "Alas, we will never know how the intricate minds of the elderly and infirm work. Anyway, as warped and other worldly as we may find it, I think we gotta trust the old boozehound on this one. She wouldn't do something like this unless she was sure it was the right thing."

"True." Betty conceded. "I guess her plans do usually work."

"Yeah." Amanda butted in. "Look how well her plan to immolate my mother in a fiery grave worked."

The other two fell silent and fixed her with a look between confusion and revulsion. "Anywayyyy." Marc steered the conversation back. "We just need to make sure Mama Bear gets her cub on board and this ship is ready to sail."

"Huh?"

Betty rolled her eyes at Amanda's perplexed face. "Marc, stop speaking in metaphors, you're confusing her."

xXx

"Why do I have to back up there exactly?" Daniel sat behind his desk, playing with a pen and staring at it as if it where he most interesting thing in the world.

"I don't know Daniel, all I did was take the message. Apparently you've left something there that the police thought you may want back."

"How is that even possible, we went there with nothing?"

She shrugged, and tried to blag her way through the obviously gaping hole in her plan, she had forgotten that the wet up there with nothing more than the shirts on their backs. "Don't shoot the messenger, I was just informed that you were to go pick it up."

"Can't Wil- can't she go?"

A bittersweet smirk flitted across Claire's face when her son caught himself saying the name he could hardly bear to. Sweet; because she knew her son and knew what it meant. Bitter; because of the woman behind it. Years ago, hell maybe even as recent as months ago, her name stuck in his throat for the very same reason it often stuck in her own. Now? Now she knew her son was omitting it to stop him feeling pain; pain that he couldn't allow himself to take what he wanted.

"Detective Harper asked for you." Claire cleared her throat, her voice had become husky with emotion. "But I can ask her if you want?"

"No!" Daniel abruptly refused, as she knew he would; he wouldn't want Wilhelmina to know he couldn't face going there, wouldn't want her to know that both she and that place had a lasting effect on him. "No, it's fine, I'll go. When?"

Claire smiled at him. "I've booked you a car; the driver will call Amanda when he's ready to take you."

He nodded and looked around him; as his eyes wandered outside the glass room, he caught a glimpse of Wilhelmina leaving her office. His head snapped back to the work in front of him and he made an elaborate show of making notes on the paper.

It was a futile act, his mother could always see right through him. She rounded the desk and gently ran her hand over the top of his head. "Are you alright?" She asked him gently.

He nodded under her hand. "Just tired, not sleeping so well since...well you know." He didn't elaborate on what exactly was keeping him awake; he didn't need to.

"I know you think I reacted-"

"Mom, can we not, please?" He sat up straight, dropping the pen and holding his hands up. Claire's arm fell back by her side. "You expect me to get over it and move on if you keep bringing it up?"

"So you are moving on then?"

He turned his chair slightly to look at her. "Yes, I'll get there. You finding out, all of you...it was never part of the plan. So just...just give me some space ok?"

She nodded and moved to leave the room, all the while hating what she was doing but knowing it was right.

xXx

Betty marched up to Marc. "Okay, Daniel's asked me to go with him and I assume Wilhelmina thinks you're accompanying her to the design house or whatever it was you told her."

"Sure am."

"Wait." Betty pushed her glasses up her nose. "Won't she notice she's not going where you said you were?"

Marc scoffed. "Ah Betty, dear sweet Betty. Willie will have her nose stuck in her Blackberry, firing off threatening emails to the lesser divas, we could drive around the block for three hours and she would be none the wiser."

"Okay." She nodded.

"And if that fails, I'll distract her with my Betty Suarez screensavers of shame." He waved his phone in her face.

"You promised you'd deleted them!" She whined.

Marc leaned into her face, grinning as he grabbed his coat. "I lied. Where's Amanda, by the way?"

"I don't know." She struggled and jumped to reach the phone, which he held above his head, too high for her stumpy legs to jump. "Probably sulking because she doesn't get to come and see how this circus of horrors plays out. Don't change the subject, delete them!"

"MARC!" The familiar commanding voice echoed somewhere in the distance.

He pointed in the direction of the voice. "No time, duty calls." He walked away grinning.

"Marc!"

"Can't hear you!"

xXx

Amanda's phone was ringing loudly, but the girl was nowhere in sight, hurrying up to it, Betty picked it up. "Daniel Meade's office." She listened to the voice on the other end. "Yes, thank you, he's on his way." She hung up.

Making her way into the office, she saw he was already sitting at the desk with his jacket on, ready to go. "That the car?"

"Yep."

"Time to go?"

"Yep."

"Right now?"

"Yep."

"Where's Amanda?"

"Don't know, stop stalling."

He got up reluctantly and followed Betty out, he walked past her toward the elevators and didn't notice her turn round and give a thumbs up to Marc who smiled back.

"Come on Marc, the car is waiting." Wilhelmina brushed past him and Marc froze, Daniel and Betty were still at the elevator, he had to stall her.

"WILLIE NO!" He shouted a little too loudly, causing people to stare. He had hoped for something a tad more articulate to stop her, but it was not to be.

She turned round, looking at him wide-eyed, as if he'd lost his mind. "What!"

"Did I...uhm...you know...you look flawless, did I tell you that?"

"Of course I do, why should today be different from every other day? If you're done with your daily ass kissing, can we move?"

Marc peered over her shoulder, where he could still see Daniel and Betty in the distance. Wilhelmina began to walk again. "I MISSED YOU!" He shouted and launched himself at her, flinging his arms around her; feeling her go rigid and immobile the moment he touched her.

If people were staring at his last outburst, they were positively agape now. At least there was no violent shoving him from her or knee to the groin; she was obviously too shocked for that. Marc kept his hands like a vice round her shoulders until he saw Daniel and Betty disappear in the elevator. He let Wilhelmina go brusquely and stepped back, military style. He patted her sharply on the shoulders. "Just wanted to tell you."

"Have you been smoking catnip?" Her wide eyes suddenly narrowed into slits. Without waiting for an answer or, thankfully, an explanation, she turned on her heel and headed to the elevators.

xXx

Betty watched Daniel standing still in the centre of the kitchen; he had been standing there so long she was about to go through the cupboards to see if there was anything she could eat. Suddenly, he shook himself from his reverie and walked briskly past Betty, swinging the door open with the palm of his hand.

"There's nothing here!" He exclaimed, hands on hips as he burled around. "Something isn't right here. I've got to come up here to pick _something_ up, no one tells me what and oh look, nothing here. I was supposed to come up here because the police said so, do they send anyone to meet me? No. What's going on Betty?"

Betty's insides clammed up immediately, she was lousy at stalling and even worse at lying; she hated both. Thankfully, or not, it remained to be seen, she didn't have to answer. At that moment, Daniel's eyes caught sight of something beyond her.

"I am a colossal idiot."

Betty followed Daniel's gaze as it landed on the shiny hood of the town car pulling into the drive.

"I wouldn't say colossal." Betty offered timidly, hoping to escape his anger.

xXx

"Willie...Willie...oxygen...can't breathe...ugh." Marc desperately croaked under the tightening vice around his throat. Wilhelmina had her hand wound around the pencil thin silver tie he had happily accessorized with that morning but now desperately wished he had ditched it in favour for something less 'death-by-strangulation-y'. She twisted it hard and pulled harshly to the side. "Why did you bring me here!"

He tried to answer, but all that came out was a series of grunts and splutters. Rolling her eyes, Wilhelmina released the poor boy and allowed him a great gulp of air. She knocked the bedazzled inhaler from his hand when he produced it and began interrogating him again. "I'm waiting!"

"I don't know." He put his hands up at his throat to shield himself when she moved for him again. "I don't I swear, I'm just the delivery boy and you are my quarry."

Willie clicked her tongue and looked out the window, laughing derisively when she saw the matching car parked across the street. "For who...for _him?_" She jerked her thumb in the direction of the other car. "Well I'm sorry but this is one delivery you won't be getting a tip for. I refuse to be ambushed by you and Daniel Meade. Driver, we're leaving." She announced, leaning back into the soft leather, not quite as angry as she knew she should be.

When the car didn't spring to life immediately, she lowered the partition to see the driver's seat was empty, she snorted in annoyance when she saw her driver get into the passenger seat of the other car and make a show of locking the door from the inside. "Well." She turned to Marc. "Haven't you two just thought of everything?"

Looking from Marc, to the house and back again, she pursed her lips; more annoyed with herself than either of them. She could march over there, wrench the car door open and demand to be taken back to New York, but Daniel obviously needed whatever conversation he had dragged her up here for and she was betting he'd just try and find another way if she did indeed go back to the city. With a final glare at Marc, she pushed the car door open and stepped outside; Marc at her heels.

In too short a time she was at the door, about to walk back in the house she had tried so hard to forget in the last week. With her hand on the doorknob she took a deep breath and settled the nerves she tried to deny where jangling inside her.

With a violent shove, the door opened with a crack; it hit the wall as she strode inside. "Alright Meade, what am I doing here?" She shouted as soon as she spotted him, not letting him get a second to get used to her arrival.

"What are you doing here!"

"That's what I just asked dumbass!"

Betty carefully sidled around Wilhelmina to stand next to Marc. "This isn't exactly going as we thought is it?" She whispered low enough for only Marc to hear. Or so she thought, Wilhelmina suddenly rounded on them both making them take a giant step back, holding onto each other.

"You? You two planned this, okay now I'm more embarrassed than mad."

Daniel stepped forward, standing next to Wilhelmina, both too preoccupied to notice this was the closest thy had been since the encounter in Daniel's office. "YOU! Betty I asked you...you lied to me, you let me think I was up here on some fool's errand, collecting crap we'd left behind."

Willie gave him a double take, her concentration on Marc and Betty broken. "To collect stuff we'd left behind in a place we brought no stuff to? Okay now I'm embarrassed for _you_."

Daniel ignored her and kept his stare firmly on Betty and Marc who immediately started babbling. "I didn't...we didn't..."

"I did."

Daniel and Wilhelmina spun round, both their faces registering shock and confusion as they took in a sombre faced Claire Meade standing at the kitchen door. "How the hell did you get there?" Willie exclaimed.

"Yeah, Wilhelmina, _that's _the question we should be focussing on." Daniel chided her. "Mom, what the hell?"

Claire smiled softly at her son, her eyes holding only him. "You were unhappy."

It was that simple, her child wasn't happy and it needed fixing. "But Mo-"

"Look!" Claire held her hands out in front of her, she had her eyes closed and her body was rigid, as if the very notion of what she was doing caused her to feel unwell. "You two have to talk, you have a business to run and avoidance clearly isn't working."

"We're dealing with it." Daniel answered sharply, for both of them. The pair in question was pointedly not looking at each other, preferring to stare straight at Claire as if their lives depended on it.

For the first time, Claire allowed her eyes to stray to Wilhelmina's and for once no daggers were thrown back and forth, only a silent understanding at the sacrifice Clare was making passed between them.

"That's the point though, isn't it Daniel? You shouldn't have to _deal_ with anything. If what you two had been...if you...if it meant as little as you said it did, there should be no issues to work through should there? Answer me one thing; if you two were still here, living the lives you were given, you would still be...together?" Daniel could see his mother almost fail on the last word.

She looked at both of them in turn, and had to hide an amused smirk when she saw them swallow and divert their eyes in unison, like scolded children. "I'll take that silence as a yes. Daniel, I'll never know how or why you could start this, but I do know why you stopped it. Talk. I'm not saying I'll do cartwheels if you come out of that door as a couple, but I won't stand in your way. So; come out together, come out apart, either way, resolve this."

Claire slowly started to walk past them, as she brushed in between them, Wilhelmina gripped her arm. The two women locked eyes. "Why? _Really_ this time."

The older woman surveyed her closely and in the periphery of her vision, could see her son awaiting an answer to Wilhelmina's question.

"Too long ago, my child was in pain, my baby made a choice which sickened his father to the point of disowning him. Bradford put Alex through so much pain by trying to deny him what he really needed, who he really was; so much pain that we lost him. Bradford would rather Alex lived a lie and was miserable to keep us happy, I will not deny Daniel his own choices, I will not be the reason he is unhappy."

The magnitude of Claire's words brought a heavy silence to hang around them as she walked out the house without a backward glance. Marc and Betty followed and closed the door quietly behind them. They followed her, keeping a good three meters between them, allowing her time to compose herself. Walking around the corner at the end of the road, they found where Claire had left her own town car. "The curtains in this street are twitching like crazy, just a normal day for us huh?" Marc tried to joke feebly.

Claire climbed into the car, Marc and Betty followed and fell quiet in the confines of the car. Claire stared out the window. The silence in the car felt worse than the atmosphere they had just left; all three were startled when the driver's partition slid down.

"So, did it work? Do I need to clear my schedule for the wedding of the year?"

"Amanda!" Betty shrieked, "How did you get here? And where did you get ice cream?"

"Stowed away with Claire's driver, I'm sick of not being invited to the party."

Claire was staring at Amanda with an expressionless face; the other three watched her, slowly, very slowly, her face cracked into a smile and before they knew it she was laughing, full on, clutch your sides laughing. "I ink-thay, she's gone azy-cray." Marc whispered from the side of his mouth.

"Oh Marc." Claire managed through the laughter. "He may not know it yet, but my son is falling in love with Wilhelmina Slater...if I don't laugh I'll blow my god damn brains out."

xXx

Daniel couldn't remember the clock ticking being this loud; it seemed to be all his mind could focus on as he leaned on the back of the couch. He had said nothing since they had been left alone and heard nothing from Wilhelmina either, save for a few disgruntled sighs. The clock seemed to be mocking them, counting down the time they had left to get out what they needed to say.

"So...we sit in here long enough that we can tell them we talked it out and we go back to avoiding each other until this goes away?" Daniel's quiet voice seemed to cut through the room like a knife.

"I guess."

"You _guess_?"

"Sure, fine, whatever."

"Is that your inner fourteen year old answering?"

"What do you want me to say Daniel?" Willie pushed herself up from the loveseat. "You clearly don't want to talk this out a-"

"You do?" He cut her off.

"I didn't say that, but your mother obviously does; did she really just compare being with me to your brother having gender reassignment?"

Daniel shrugged. "Is it really that different? Both involve having your balls removed in the long run."

Willie couldn't help it, she really tried, but she laughed. Catching Daniel's stare from the corner of her eye she saw his mouth twitch as well. As quick as it was there, it disappeared and the stony expression fell back over his features.

"Okay Daniel, what's with the face? Neither of us wants to be here but your acting mad at the world."

"I'm not mad at the world." He mumbled quietly. "I'm mad at you."

Wilhelmina let those words sink in for a moment, her mouth flapping wordlessly. She stepped into his space, forcing him to look at her. "ME! Your mother dragged us up here, Marc and your little piñata were in on it and you're mad at me! Why?"

"For being you!" He raised his voice.

"How incredibly vague yet unbelievably insulting, thank you." She deadpanned and walked away from the confrontation.

Daniel grabbed her wrist to prevent her putting more distance between them and pulled her back to stand in the space between his legs. "Don't you get it? I'm mad because for any other two people on this god forsaken rock, this could, no _would_, be the start of something. But us? It can't be, because of who you are and the things you've done."

In a quick move, she yanked her wrist from his grasp. "If this is the part where you expect me to apologize for who I am you're in for a long wait. This isn't about me or my past; this is about you being afraid that I might be in your future and what it says about you. Everyone you were worried about has stood aside and said they'll make peace with whatever you decide, but you still won't let yourself choose me because you're too damn scared."

She was breathing heavily and took a small step back, Daniel straightened up. "Are you saying you _are_ a choice?"

"I'm saying we need to choose for us...not them."

Daniel laughed, not unkindly, just from sheer disbelief. "I don't believe this, after all the games, all the schemes, the promises we made to ourselves in this house..._you_ want _me."_

He saw the muscles of her throat work as she swallowed. "Deny that you want me too."

He didn't, he wouldn't, or couldn't, he just stared at her looking at him. This wasn't how he ever thought it would go. She was supposed to be the strong one to snap him back to reality when he has weak moments.

"Oh for God's sake!" Wilhelmina snapped and at once she was against him, her hands behind her head pulling his lips against hers and before he knew it he was responding. He was kissing her hard, trying to get closer even though every conceivable part of them was tight against each other. It was the most confusing kiss of his life, it felt like they had never left but at the same time felt brand new.

In a way it was brand new, this wasn't a kiss leading to mutually distracting sex, this wasn't a kiss to diffuse some tension that some $10 shrink had diagnosed, this was a kiss leading somewhere completely different and she was right; it scared him.

She pulled away and was satisfied when she saw him lurch forward to try and claim her mouth again, she pressed her fingers against his lips. "There should be rules."

"Huh?" He breathed, not knowing or caring what she meant in that moment, just wanting her on him again.

"Rules...for how we handle this. We can try and kid ourselves this will be like any other relationship, but we both know it won't be. You want to do this, then we need to be prepared for backlash, pressure, the whole nine yards."

"We're making a dating rulebook?" He mocked her.

"Not quite." She smirked. "But I think we should at least agree that this stays out of Mode." She tried to continue as he placed small kisses on her jaw. "To much crazy stuff goes on there as it is. We need to keep personal and professional separate."

"It's a good thing we have this house then." He murmured against her neck.

She pulled back quickly. "What?"

Daniel looked up at her, a sheepish smile playing on his lips. "Uh...I got a call from Detective Harper, looking for my Mom, to thank her."

"Thank her?"

"Well, since we blew our big cover up here, they can't use this house again. My mom made a generous donation to the NYPD, enough to secure them at least two more properties...and hand the deeds for this one to her."

"She bought this house?" Willie was incredulous.

"She bought _our_ house." Daniel clarified and moved for her neck again. Before his lips made contact he felt a hand in his hair and was tugged back to look at her.

"He told you this on the phone." Daniel nodded in response to her question. "Before you left?" He nodded again. "You _knew_, you knew she was putting this together didn't you?"

He chuckled as his hands worked at the belt synching the waist of her dress. "Even I'm not dumb enough to think I left something behind in a home where I owned nothing."

She laughed at him, amused and a little impressed. "Should we go find them?" She asked, watching his eyes dance over her features.

Daniel pulled hard on the small belt and she fell against him, letting him kiss her deep and long.

"They can wait."

THE END

_A/N – Well I really lied this time about updating sooner didn't I? Sorry guys, had the idea in my head for ages but for some reason I couldn't get it on the page. Thanks for sticking with it and for your motivational reviews; without them it never woulda got finished. Don't when, if ever, I'll be writing another one, it's harder to write on your own once you've had as good a partner as I did. I'd like to, so, who knows? =D_

_Thanks again to all you loyal Danimina lovers!_


	20. Epilogue

1 YEAR LATER

The knock at the door was an unwanted intrusion on her relaxation, swinging her legs from Daniel's lap she left her place at the garden table; playfully swatting his head on the way past for making her get up. Daniel snickered and turned his face back up to the sun beating down on the garden.

She opened the door and was that used to seeing the person on the other side it took her a couple of seconds to realise he was out of place. "Marc? What are you doing here? I thought you were on vacation."

"I am." He grinned. "Just thought I would come and say hi."

"You came to Connecticut on your vacation to tell me _hi?"_ She asked, not buying a word of it.

"No silly, I saw the car arrive earlier and thought I would come over."

"Come over? Why is this making some sort of sense that I'm not in on?" She leaned out the door and looked to where Marc had gestured when he said 'over'. Her eyebrows lifted when she saw Jesse waving back.

She looked back into Marc's smiling face. "Poor thing's been ever so upset since James left, I'm comforting him."

"I'm sure you are." She said sceptically. "So this is your vacation? Connecticut? Nice." She drawled.

"Says the woman who drops everything almost every Friday to speed here for a dirty weekend with her boyfriend."

"That's different; we hardly get any time for us in the city. In fact, I don't mean to be rude, oh who am I kidding I don't care, but just because you're up here with your new plaything it doesn't mean you two are going to be 'popping over' whenever the fancy takes you does it?"

"Aww don't want to be disturbed?"

"Marc, in New York, we have to constantly watch what we say, who we say it to, who we're seen with, there's too many people waiting to stick the knife in. Here? Here it's just us, this time is too short and it's...it's dear to me okay." She snapped at the end, still uncomfortable displaying her emotions.

"Wilhelmina Slater! Look at you! Shacked up with Daniel...feeling things."

"I don't feel _things_." She huffed and folded her arms. "I just feel when it comes to him."

Marc's wide eyes bored into hers and he tried to conceal a smile at her disgusted face. "That is the cheesiest thing you have ever said, I didn't even know you could do cheesy!"

The nauseated expression didn't change. "I didn't either, let's pretend I never said that shall we?"

"Gladly."

"Good, now mince back over to your boy toy and I'll see you Monday." She dismissed him; Marc started walking away and waved his hand behind him. "Oh and Marc?" He stopped and turned to her. "Jesse's one of the good ones...don't mess this up."

Marc smiled broadly. "Ditto."

She watched Marc begin to cross the road and pulled out her cell, Marc was almost across the road when she saw Jesse in the garden, looking at his phone and then over to her. He answered, still looking at her. "You're about to tell me that if I hurt him you'll hunt me down and kill me right?"

"Something like that." She smirked.

"I wouldn't hurt a fly."

"Jesse you threw James out on the street in full view of everyone."

"Well he shouldn't have said the Tony's were meaningless. Anyway, you worry less about us and more about that man you left burning to a crisp in your yard. Gotta go, Amanda's mixing drinks, see you tonight."

"No you won-" She tried to answer, but he had disconnected. She pressed redial while walking back up to the garden but it went straight to voicemail.

She sat back down in the chair and reached for her glass, putting her legs back on Daniel's lap, his hands automatically returning to rub her calf muscles. "We have to lock the doors and keep the lights off tonight."

"Why?"

"Jesse's bagged himself a Modie of his very own. Marc, and for some reason but I'm not really surprised, Amanda, are over there and they think they're showing their faces over here."

"They are." Daniel answered simply.

Willie sat up, squinting under the sun's rays. "What? No they are not! Daniel we have to leave here tomorrow because your Mom wants both of us there for this dinner with Alexis and DJ. I'm not spending my one night here with people from work!"

"Okay, number one, they are not people from work, they are our friends...they are." He added after she tried to cut him off. "And number two, I spoke to my Mom and she, Alexis and DJ are coming up too, oh and their picking up Betty on the way."

She narrowed her eyes at him, knowing where this was going. "And we're playing host why?"

He grinned, all the while still rubbing her leg. "Because I think it's time to tell them."

"Fantastic, just what the neighbours up here will relish, yet another brawl in this garden."

Daniel scoffed. "Please, you think I haven't seen the $300 phone bill to France? Or noticed that I get relegated to the second row at fashion shows so you and my Mom sit up front?"

She squirmed. "I don't know what you mean." She adopted an indignant tone. "We hate each other and always will."

"Sure." He laughed and elevated his butt slightly, digging in his back pocket; he pulled out his wallet and opened it. "Now stop making me hide this and put it on your god damn finger."

Wilhelmina stared at it, then at him before taking a deep sigh and snatching the ring from him and shoving it on her finger. "I don't think there's gonna be much need to tell anyone, your mother could sniff out a rock this big from space."

"That's the idea." He folded his wallet back over and was about to put it back in his pocket when she stopped him.

"What's that?" Her eye caught the bit of glossy paper sticking out of the leather.

"Nothing." He said hastily and tried to shove it back in.

Wilhelmina made a grab for it and slid over, sitting in his lap and trying to snatch the wallet he held at arm's length. She dug him under the arm and he dropped it with a yelp. He tried to grab it back but she leaned forward and opened it before he could. He settled for resting his arms around her waist as she pulled out the paper. Daniel sighed when she unfolded it.

"Oh my god." She laughed. "You seriously carry this around with you?"

"I do."

"Look at the state of it, you must have read it a thousand times."

"I have."

She laughed again, turning on his lap to face him. "You're keeping it like it's some kind of love letter or something."

"It is."

"It's about clothes Daniel."

He smirked, turning red with embarrassment. "To the casual observer perhaps."

She looked at him colouring up and felt bad for mocking him, she ran her hand down the side of his face and leaned in to kiss him. Standing up, she took his hand and pulled him to his feet.

"Where are we going?"

Wilhelmina pressed herself to him and brought her lips up to his again, savouring their warmth. "I'm guessing we only have a couple of hours before the more annoying branches of the Meade tree come marching through that door, where do you think we're going?" Her eyebrow arched suggestively.

Daniel grinned, wide and unabashed, and kissed her again before allowing himself to be dragged towards the house.

The little, well read, sheet of glossy paper, the letter from the Editor Marc had watched her compose, was left resting on the very same table where it was written; flapping in the breeze.

_Everyone has got one;_

_Everyone, from the woman sitting reading this in the salon while she waits for her nails to be done, to the teenage boy sneaking this out of his mothers purse when he thinks she's not looking. From the college fashion student, who is no doubt reading this in the store because their finances simply won't stretch to purchasing a copy, to the Editor in Chief of the publication itself. Everyone has one._

_Everyone has that one item; that dress, that pair of shoes that you've hidden away at the back of your closet because as good as they look you just don't feel they're quite you. Or perhaps that one glorious outfit you've seen that looks so good on others but you don't think you could ever pull it off._

_It might be ridiculously expensive and you don't want to wear it in case it gets ruined, or god forbid your family might find out what it cost. It might be old, vintage, a look you never think would come back into style and you worry you might be ridiculed to be seen in it; thanks to nefarious diva's like me declaring what is and isn't fashionable._

_Well this month, I'm telling you not to listen; I'm telling you to break all the rules. I'm telling you to hell with what others might say or think and put it on. Wear it with pride and listen to no one but yourself. What you wear shouldn't always be about who says what's in and what's not. Sometimes, just sometimes, it has to be about being who you are and expressing your individuality. _

_So go on, have the month off from the rules and regulations I, and others like me, have dictated to you. Go ahead and put whatever the hell you want on, you might just surprise yourself._

_You might find it's the perfect fit after all._


End file.
